Carbon Footprint of Electricity Generation by Country (g CO₂e/kWh) 2026

Solar panels look clean, but manufacturing them requires energy. Wind turbines are made from steel and concrete—both carbon-intensive. Nuclear plants produce zero emissions during operation but cost billions to build. This is why lifecycle carbon intensity matters. It measures the true environmental cost of electricity, including everything from mining raw materials to decommissioning power plants. Our analysis reveals which countries truly have the cleanest electricity when you count the full picture.

What Is Lifecycle Carbon Intensity?

Lifecycle emissions measure the total carbon footprint of electricity generation across its entire lifespan:

• Upstream: Mining coal, drilling for oil, extracting uranium
• Manufacturing: Building solar panels, wind turbines, power plants
• Transportation: Shipping fuel and equipment
• Operation: Running the power plant
• Decommissioning: Dismantling and recycling

This gives a complete picture of environmental impact. Direct emissions (just operation) tell only half the story.

Carbon Footprint of Electricity Generation by Country (g CO₂e/kWh) 2026

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#	Country	Carbon Intensity 2026
1	Falkland Islands FK	1,410.71
2	Turkmenistan TM	1,305.99
3	Uzbekistan UZ	1,145.43
4	Kosovo XK	924.82
5	Bahrain BH	902.09
6	Brunei BN	887.81
7	Libya LY	849.08
8	Botswana BW	845.15
9	Kazakhstan KZ	817.48
10	Nauru NR	809.72
11	Congo CG	798.24
12	Mongolia MN	754.5
13	Iraq IQ	704.32
14	Saudi Arabia SA	702.46
15	South Africa ZA	694.84
16	Bangladesh BD	689.37
17	India IN	688.11
18	Trinidad and Tobago TT	682.3
19	Comoros KM	676.76
20	Indonesia ID	674.67
21	Gambia GM	673.85
22	Niger NE	671.05
23	Azerbaijan AZ	662.27
24	Syria SY	658.3
25	Grenada GD	657.77
26	British Virgin Islands VG	656.12
27	Puerto Rico PR	654.91
28	Turks and Caicos Islands TC	654.43
29	Bahamas BS	651.13
30	Solomon Islands SB	645.74
31	Serbia RS	645.09
32	Bermuda BM	643.98
33	Iran IR	643.82
34	Guyana GY	639.16
35	Saint Kitts and Nevis KN	638.34
36	Philippines PH	636.33
37	Cuba CU	636.09
38	Kuwait KW	635.1
39	Taiwan TW	632.88
40	Cayman Islands KY	632.66
41	Saint Lucia LC	631.36
42	Algeria DZ	631.22
43	Moldova MD	622.76
44	Chad TD	621.08
45	Mauritius MU	620.22
46	Bosnia and Herzegovina BA	619.33
47	Myanmar MM	616.98
48	American Samoa AS	615.43
49	Dominica DM	612.19
50	Morocco MA	611.67
51	Poland PL	611.3
52	Equatorial Guinea GQ	611.18
53	Antigua and Barbuda AG	607.1
54	Guinea-Bissau GW	604.17
55	Qatar QA	602.82
56	Hong Kong HK	601.04
57	Guam GU	600.35
58	Saint Pierre and Miquelon PM	600
59	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines VC	599.12
60	South Sudan SS	597.66
61	Maldives MV	595.49
62	New Caledonia NC	592.15
63	Sao Tome and Principe ST	587.12
64	Malaysia MY	586.13
65	Barbados BB	581.16
66	Madagascar MG	575.42
67	North Macedonia MK	565
68	Dominican Republic DO	564.12
69	Tonga TO	563.22
70	Egypt EG	561.65
71	Tunisia TN	560.51
72	Benin BJ	559.14
73	Aruba AW	547.19
74	Burkina Faso BF	542.5
75	China CN	542.08
76	Oman OM	540.78
77	Papua New Guinea PG	539.73
78	Thailand TH	538.71
79	Israel IL	534.76
80	Eritrea ER	533.98
81	Gibraltar GI	529.92
82	Jamaica JM	526.62
83	Seychelles SC	517.65
84	Ghana GH	512.3
85	Cape Verde CV	512.28
86	Cyprus CY	509.69
87	Haiti HT	505.74
88	Nigeria NG	504.78
89	Yemen YE	503.12
90	Australia AU	500.41
91	Singapore SG	499.62
92	Sri Lanka LK	496.73
93	Senegal SN	489.62
94	United Arab Emirates AE	482.94
95	Somalia SO	482.4
96	Mauritania MR	468.47
97	Türkiye TR	467.98
98	Vietnam VN	466.36
99	Japan JP	466.11
100	Mexico MX	454.46
101	Malta MT	452.88
102	Togo TG	452.03
103	Jordan JO	448.35
104	French Polynesia PF	444.61
105	Vanuatu VU	443.74
106	Faroe Islands FO	439.38
107	Bolivia BO	438.46
108	Russia RU	438.07
109	Mali ML	435.32
110	Guadeloupe GP	434.39
111	Martinique MQ	432.68
112	Pakistan PK	421.97
113	South Korea KR	405.54
114	Cambodia KH	399.4
115	Montenegro ME	396.87
116	Gabon GA	385.3
117	Palestine PS	375.62
118	Djibouti DJ	373.16
119	United States US	352.93
120	Argentina AR	347.47
121	Kiribati KI	345.24
122	Lebanon LB	340.93
123	Tanzania TZ	338.3
124	Samoa WS	328.65
125	Belarus BY	328.61
126	Suriname SR	325.66
127	North Korea KP	322.75
128	Estonia EE	314.95
129	Burundi BI	312.09
130	Germany DE	310.64
131	Bulgaria BG	293.63
132	Italy IT	291.77
133	Liberia LR	283.03
134	Cameroon CM	276.09
135	Laos LA	267.07
136	Armenia AM	265.51
137	Rwanda RW	264.68
138	Chile CL	258.11
139	Peru PE	256.62
140	Colombia CO	250.91
141	Honduras HN	246.83
142	Greece GR	236.39
143	Ireland IE	233.17
144	Fiji FJ	233.05
145	Nicaragua NI	230.33
146	Zimbabwe ZW	217.09
147	Romania RO	216.59
148	French Guiana GF	212.66
149	Guinea GN	208.32
150	Slovenia SI	205.68
151	Sudan SD	196.34
152	Belize BZ	193.67
153	Ukraine UA	192.27
154	Guatemala GT	185.05
155	Panama PA	183.6
156	Netherlands NL	173.34
157	Croatia HR	171.52
158	United Kingdom GB	171.02
159	Hungary HU	166.61
160	Georgia GE	161.26
161	Canada CA	157.84
162	Kyrgyzstan KG	153.24
163	Mozambique MZ	149.73
164	Zambia ZM	144.69
165	Tajikistan TJ	129.68
166	Uruguay UY	124.01
167	Ecuador EC	118.48
168	Afghanistan AF	116.08
169	Lithuania LT	115.99
170	New Zealand NZ	115.44
171	Latvia LV	113.99
172	Eswatini SZ	111.94
173	Spain ES	108.88
174	Belgium BE	105.38
175	Slovakia SK	100.77
176	Greenland GL	100.66
177	Austria AT	98.18
178	Denmark DK	92.43
179	Luxembourg LU	89.81
180	Angola AO	89.49
181	Brazil BR	85.75
182	Venezuela VE	85.43
183	Kenya KE	81.24
184	Portugal PT	61.85
185	Uganda UG	58.03
186	Finland FI	57.19
187	France FR	53.29
188	Namibia NA	48.05
189	Malawi MW	41.99
190	Costa Rica CR	37.79
191	Switzerland CH	37.14
192	Sweden SE	37.11
193	El Salvador SV	36.93
194	Cook Islands CK	29.17
195	Iceland IS	28.43
196	Norway NO	28.19
197	DR Congo CD	25.56
198	Paraguay PY	25.2
199	Albania AL	24.51
200	Bhutan BT	24.45
201	Lesotho LS	23.46
202	Ethiopia ET	23.23
203	Nepal NP	23.08
204	Central African Republic CF	0
205	Sierra Leone SL	-71.93

Key Findings

Even with lifecycle analysis, renewable energy dominates:

• Hydroelectric: 24 g CO₂e/kWh (lowest)
• Wind: 11 g CO₂e/kWh (extremely clean)
• Solar: 48 g CO₂e/kWh (clean)
• Nuclear: 12 g CO₂e/kWh (very clean)
• Natural Gas: 490 g CO₂e/kWh (dirty)
• Coal: 820 g CO₂e/kWh (extremely dirty)

The verdict: Renewables and nuclear are clean even when counting full lifecycle. Fossil fuels remain dirty no matter how you measure.

Top 10 Cleanest Electricity (Lifecycle Basis)

1. Norway - 29 g CO₂e/kWh (hydroelectric)
2. Costa Rica - 36 g CO₂e/kWh (renewable mix)
3. Switzerland - 37 g CO₂e/kWh (hydro + nuclear)
4. Sweden - 38 g CO₂e/kWh (nuclear + hydro)
5. France - 56 g CO₂e/kWh (nuclear)
6. El Salvador - 84 g CO₂e/kWh (geothermal)
7. Finland - 85 g CO₂e/kWh (nuclear + renewables)
8. Kenya - 89 g CO₂e/kWh (geothermal + hydro)
9. Brazil - 102 g CO₂e/kWh (hydroelectric)
10. Austria - 112 g CO₂e/kWh (hydro + wind)

Why Lifecycle Analysis Changes Things

Solar Manufacturing: Making a solar panel requires energy. But over 25 years, it generates 50 times more energy than was used to make it. Lifecycle emissions are still low.

Nuclear Construction: Building a nuclear plant takes years and massive resources. But it runs for 60 years with zero operational emissions. Lifecycle emissions are very low.

Coal Mining: Extracting coal requires heavy equipment and transportation. But this is tiny compared to burning the coal. Lifecycle emissions are still dominated by combustion.

Wind Turbines: Made from steel and fiberglass. Manufacturing is energy-intensive. But a turbine generates 100+ times its manufacturing energy over 20 years. Lifecycle emissions are minimal.

Regional Patterns

Europe - Renewable Leaders

Nordic countries lead with hydroelectric and nuclear. Germany is rapidly transitioning to wind and solar. Even with manufacturing emissions, European electricity is increasingly clean.

Americas - Hydroelectric Advantage

Costa Rica and Brazil benefit from geography—abundant water for hydroelectric dams. This gives them extremely low lifecycle emissions.

Asia - Coal Trap

China and India have high lifecycle emissions due to coal dominance. Even accounting for manufacturing, coal remains the dirtiest option.

Data Methodology

What We Measured: We analyzed lifecycle carbon intensity of electricity generation across 210+ countries. This includes all greenhouse gases (CO₂, methane, nitrous oxide) measured in CO₂-equivalents.

Data Source: Our World in Data (OWID) - Carbon Intensity of Electricity dataset. This includes upstream, supply-chain, manufacturing, and operational emissions.

Why This Matters: Lifecycle analysis prevents greenwashing. It shows the true environmental cost of each energy source.

2024 Data: Latest available year from OWID dataset

2026 Projections: Based on historical trends from 2015-2024. Countries expanding renewables show declining lifecycle emissions. Countries expanding coal show increasing emissions. Projections calculated using linear trend analysis.

Important Note: Lifecycle emissions vary by technology and location. Solar in sunny regions has lower emissions than solar in cloudy regions. These figures represent global averages.

Carbon Footprint of Electricity Generation by Country (g CO₂e/kWh) 2026

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#	Country	Carbon Intensity 2024	Carbon Intensity 2026
1	Falkland Islands	1,267.86	1,410.71
2	Turkmenistan	1,306.12	1,305.99
3	Uzbekistan	1,139.54	1,145.43
4	Kosovo	935.19	924.82
5	Bahrain	902.6	902.09
6	Brunei	890.66	887.81
7	Libya	839.81	849.08
8	Botswana	847.04	845.15
9	Kazakhstan	821.27	817.48
10	Nauru	784.72	809.72
11	Congo	750.03	798.24
12	Mongolia	767.8	754.5
13	Iraq	695.17	704.32
14	Saudi Arabia	701.63	702.46
15	South Africa	712.94	694.84
16	Bangladesh	685.91	689.37
17	India	698.58	688.11
18	Trinidad and Tobago	682.11	682.3
19	Comoros	671.97	676.76
20	Indonesia	678.07	674.67
21	Gambia	669.69	673.85
22	Niger	683.27	671.05
23	Azerbaijan	662.63	662.27
24	Syria	669.73	658.3
25	Grenada	656.68	657.77
26	British Virgin Islands	657.67	656.12
27	Puerto Rico	659.67	654.91
28	Turks and Caicos Islands	653.37	654.43
29	Bahamas	652.85	651.13
30	Solomon Islands	656.14	645.74
31	Serbia	664.56	645.09
32	Bermuda	643.94	643.98
33	Iran	643.63	643.82
34	Guyana	640.88	639.16
35	Saint Kitts and Nevis	635.05	638.34
36	Philippines	620.76	636.33
37	Cuba	637.78	636.09
38	Kuwait	638.5	635.1
39	Taiwan	639.2	632.88
40	Cayman Islands	636.25	632.66
41	Saint Lucia	635.77	631.36
42	Algeria	632.04	631.22
43	Moldova	634.88	622.76
44	Chad	621.77	621.08
45	Mauritius	622.15	620.22
46	Bosnia and Herzegovina	634.13	619.33
47	Myanmar	575.07	616.98
48	American Samoa	628.46	615.43
49	Dominica	599.13	612.19
50	Morocco	617.52	611.67
51	Poland	654.92	611.3
52	Equatorial Guinea	605.48	611.18
53	Antigua and Barbuda	613.37	607.1
54	Guinea-Bissau	611.11	604.17
55	Qatar	602.75	602.82
56	Hong Kong	643.52	601.04
57	Guam	608.31	600.35
58	Saint Pierre and Miquelon	600	600
59	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	597.27	599.12
60	South Sudan	610.24	597.66
61	Maldives	604.97	595.49
62	New Caledonia	609.71	592.15
63	Sao Tome and Principe	600.59	587.12
64	Malaysia	598.3	586.13
65	Barbados	593.09	581.16
66	Madagascar	533.47	575.42
67	North Macedonia	581.09	565
68	Dominican Republic	567.83	564.12
69	Tonga	571.2	563.22
70	Egypt	567.61	561.65
71	Tunisia	561.73	560.51
72	Benin	574.79	559.14
73	Aruba	548.08	547.19
74	Burkina Faso	547.97	542.5
75	China	564.67	542.08
76	Oman	546.52	540.78
77	Papua New Guinea	528.08	539.73
78	Thailand	548.77	538.71
79	Israel	562.19	534.76
80	Eritrea	554.28	533.98
81	Gibraltar	554.43	529.92
82	Jamaica	538.48	526.62
83	Seychelles	543.91	517.65
84	Ghana	489.27	512.3
85	Cape Verde	515.66	512.28
86	Cyprus	529.96	509.69
87	Haiti	523.19	505.74
88	Nigeria	507.2	504.78
89	Yemen	536.84	503.12
90	Australia	545.02	500.41
91	Singapore	501.23	499.62
92	Sri Lanka	493.71	496.73
93	Senegal	515.68	489.62
94	United Arab Emirates	524.5	482.94
95	Somalia	515.43	482.4
96	Mauritania	470.92	468.47
97	Türkiye	478.64	467.98
98	Vietnam	470.66	466.36
99	Japan	486.1	466.11
100	Mexico	470.1	454.46
101	Malta	473.9	452.88
102	Togo	459.82	452.03
103	Jordan	489.92	448.35
104	French Polynesia	448.41	444.61
105	Vanuatu	463.84	443.74
106	Faroe Islands	417.11	439.38
107	Bolivia	459.43	438.46
108	Russia	438.15	438.07
109	Mali	421.64	435.32
110	Guadeloupe	468.51	434.39
111	Martinique	469.21	432.68
112	Pakistan	432.19	421.97
113	South Korea	425.52	405.54
114	Cambodia	409.41	399.4
115	Montenegro	416.38	396.87
116	Gabon	405.4	385.3
117	Palestine	425.02	375.62
118	Djibouti	435.08	373.16
119	United States	379.15	352.93
120	Argentina	363.73	347.47
121	Kiribati	408.73	345.24
122	Lebanon	407.45	340.93
123	Tanzania	338.71	338.3
124	Samoa	352.03	328.65
125	Belarus	367.87	328.61
126	Suriname	338.07	325.66
127	North Korea	348.55	322.75
128	Estonia	368.83	314.95
129	Burundi	276.45	312.09
130	Germany	344.44	310.64
131	Bulgaria	333.39	293.63
132	Italy	311.58	291.77
133	Liberia	348.83	283.03
134	Cameroon	284.19	276.09
135	Laos	269.63	267.07
136	Armenia	259.52	265.51
137	Rwanda	278.86	264.68
138	Chile	308.06	258.11
139	Peru	262.27	256.62
140	Colombia	246.12	250.91
141	Honduras	266.9	246.83
142	Greece	306.33	236.39
143	Ireland	269.48	233.17
144	Fiji	252.87	233.05
145	Nicaragua	252.7	230.33
146	Zimbabwe	262.17	217.09
147	Romania	245.79	216.59
148	French Guiana	227.72	212.66
149	Guinea	210.99	208.32
150	Slovenia	229.2	205.68
151	Sudan	213.01	196.34
152	Belize	180.09	193.67
153	Ukraine	230.46	192.27
154	Guatemala	220.21	185.05
155	Panama	193.91	183.6
156	Netherlands	242.73	173.34
157	Croatia	189.62	171.52
158	United Kingdom	204.33	171.02
159	Hungary	193.64	166.61
160	Georgia	158.65	161.26
161	Canada	161.52	157.84
162	Kyrgyzstan	146.18	153.24
163	Mozambique	143.7	149.73
164	Zambia	133.78	144.69
165	Tajikistan	116.23	129.68
166	Uruguay	114.67	124.01
167	Ecuador	146.44	118.48
168	Afghanistan	117.42	116.08
169	Lithuania	140.45	115.99
170	New Zealand	119.11	115.44
171	Latvia	132.69	113.99
172	Eswatini	126.42	111.94
173	Spain	149.33	108.88
174	Belgium	121.19	105.38
175	Slovakia	118.38	100.77
176	Greenland	109.88	100.66
177	Austria	111.79	98.18
178	Denmark	136.75	92.43
179	Luxembourg	116.13	89.81
180	Angola	122	89.49
181	Brazil	101.75	85.75
182	Venezuela	135.87	85.43
183	Kenya	88.73	81.24
184	Portugal	129.15	61.85
185	Uganda	58.05	58.03
186	Finland	85.14	57.19
187	France	56.05	53.29
188	Namibia	48.94	48.05
189	Malawi	47.72	41.99
190	Costa Rica	36.38	37.79
191	Switzerland	37.19	37.14
192	Sweden	38.22	37.11
193	El Salvador	84.12	36.93
194	Cook Islands	145.83	29.17
195	Iceland	28.28	28.43
196	Norway	29.19	28.19
197	DR Congo	26.18	25.56
198	Paraguay	25.01	25.2
199	Albania	24.31	24.51
200	Bhutan	24.27	24.45
201	Lesotho	22.69	23.46
202	Ethiopia	23.39	23.23
203	Nepal	23.14	23.08
204	Central African Republic	0	0
205	Sierra Leone	-14.67	-71.93