Grammes of carbon per kWh of electricity by source

Recently there was an assertion that nuclear energy does not help in the battle against global warming as it generates more CO2 during mining and fuel fabrication that it saves during power generation.

The most authoritative study we can find is provided by the British Government's Energy Technology Support Unit which shows that nuclear is the cleanest per unit of electricity produced over its life cycle, taking into account mining, processing and transport. The figures which have been confirmed by the OECD are:

Generation Type
g/kWh
Nuclear
4
wind
8
Large scale hydro electric power
8
Small scale hydro electric power
9
Energy crops
17
Geothermal
79
Solar
133
Gas
430
Diesel
772
Oil
828
Coal
955


______________________

Source : BENE 2007 - adapted by EFN - Environmentalists For Nuclear - www.ecolo.org