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Energy technologies compared

Six numbers that decide what gets built: how often a plant runs, what its electricity costs, how much carbon and land it takes, how safe it is and how fast it can be built. Click any column to sort.

Technology Capacity factor % LCOE $/MWh Lifecycle gCO₂e/kWh Land m²/MWh Deaths / TWh Build time, yrs
Solar PV (utility) 11–25 29–92L 48 (18–180) 19 0.02 0.5–1.5
Solar PV (rooftop) 10–20 67–282L 41 (26–60) ≈0 (on buildings) 0.02 0.1–0.3
Wind onshore 25–45 27–73L 11 (7–56) ≈1 direct / ≈99 incl. spacing 0.04 1–2
Wind offshore 38–55 74–139L 12 (8–35) ≈0.4 (seabed) 0.04 2–4
Hydropower (reservoir) 30–60 30–150I 24 (1–2,200) 14 (very site-specific) 1.3 4–10
Nuclear 80–93 142–222L 12 (3.7–110) 0.3 0.03 5–10
Gas combined cycle 40–70 45–108L 490 (410–650) ≈1 2.8 2–3
Gas peaker (OCGT) 5–15 110–228L 650 (550–800)* ≈1 2.8 1–2
Coal 40–70 69–168L 820 (740–910) 15 (incl. mining) 24.6 4–6
Oil / diesel 5–40 200–400E 840 (510–1,170)* ≈2 18.4 0.5–2
Geothermal 70–90 64–106L 38 (6–79) ≈1–5 n/a 3–6
Bioenergy (dedicated) 50–85 50–200I 230 (130–420) ≈60–1,000+ (crop-based) 4.6 2–4
Concentrated solar (with storage) 30–55 70–200I 27 (8.8–63) 22 n/a 2–4
Marine (tidal & wave) 20–40 200–450O 17 (5.6–28) ≈0 (sea area) n/a 2–5
Battery storage (4 h, LCOS) 10–25 120–300S depends on charging source ≈0.5 n/a 0.5–1.5

How to read this comparison

No single metric picks a winner. Levelised cost (LCOE) is the lifetime cost per MWh at the plant gate, but it says nothing about when the energy arrives. A MWh from a gas peaker at 7 p.m. in January is worth more to a grid than a MWh from solar at noon in May, which is why firm low-carbon sources (nuclear, geothermal, hydro with storage) can justify higher LCOEs and why battery storage is now routinely paired with solar.

Capacity factor links cost to output: the same capital cost spread over twice as many hours halves the capital part of LCOE. Try it in the LCOE calculator or the capacity factor calculator.

Lifecycle emissions and deaths per TWh show the external costs that market prices largely ignore. On both, wind, solar, nuclear and hydro are one to three orders of magnitude better than coal and oil. Land use is where the low-carbon sources differ most: nuclear and gas are compact, while solar farms, spaced-out wind farms and especially crop-based bioenergy need far more area per MWh, though much wind and agrivoltaic land stays in farming.

Frequently asked questions

Which source of electricity is cheapest?
For new plants, onshore wind and utility-scale solar PV have the lowest unsubsidised levelised costs in most markets (roughly USD 27–92/MWh in Lazard’s 2024 analysis), followed by gas combined cycle at USD 45–108/MWh. LCOE does not include the cost of firming variable output, so system costs rise at very high wind and solar shares.
Which source has the lowest lifecycle emissions?
In the IPCC AR5 review, onshore wind (median 11 gCO₂e/kWh), nuclear (12), offshore wind (12) and ocean energy (17) are lowest, followed by hydropower (24), CSP (27), geothermal (38) and solar PV (41–48). Coal (820) and gas combined cycle (490) are 20–70 times higher.
What is the safest source of energy?
Measured as deaths per TWh, including accidents and air pollution, solar (≈0.02), nuclear (≈0.03) and wind (≈0.04) are the safest; coal (≈24.6) and oil (≈18.4) are the most dangerous, overwhelmingly through air pollution.
What does capacity factor mean in this table?
It is the average output over a year divided by the maximum possible output at full rated power. Fossil plant capacity factors reflect how they are dispatched (gas peakers run only a few hundred hours a year), not technical limits.
Why does land use differ so much for wind?
Turbines and roads occupy only about 1 m² per MWh, but wind farms are spread out to avoid wake losses. Counting the whole spacing area gives about 100 m²/MWh, most of which can still be farmed or grazed.

Sources & references

  1. Lazard (2024). Levelized Cost of Energy+ (LCOE+), version 17
  2. IRENA (2024). Renewable Power Generation Costs in 2023
  3. Schlömer S. et al. (2014). Annex III: Technology-specific cost and performance parameters. IPCC AR5 WGIII
  4. UNECE (2021). Life Cycle Assessment of Electricity Generation Options
  5. Markandya A. & Wilkinson P. (2007). Electricity generation and health. The Lancet 370(9591)
  6. Ritchie H. (2020/2022). What are the safest and cleanest sources of energy? / How does the land use of different electricity sources compare? Our World in Data