Nuclear and the Environment

Where does CO₂ come from?

75% of global emissions come from energy. Not deforestation.

75%
of global emissions come from energy
MATRIZ ELÉTRICA GLOBAL • 2023
% da geração mundial por fonte
39%BAIXO CARBONO
  • Carvão35.5%
  • Gás22.5%
  • Hidro14.3%
  • Eólica7.8%
  • Nuclear9.1%
  • Solar5.5%
  • Outros5.3%

Fontes de baixo carbono (hidro + nuclear + eólica + solar) somam ~39%. Fonte: Ember Energy Review 2024.

BEN / EPE — 2024
Oil
30.2%
Coal
27.6%
Natural gas
23.1%

75% of all greenhouse gas emissions in the world come from energy generation. Not from deforestation. Not from agriculture. From energy.

Source: Our World in Data / Ritchie, H., 2020.

The global energy mix is still dominated by fossil fuels:

  • Oil: 30.2%
  • Coal: 27.6%
  • Natural gas: 23.1%

Source: BEN / EPE — National Energy Balance, 2024.

These three fuels generate around 21.3 billion tonnes of CO₂ per year — the leading cause of global warming.

Renewable energies have minimal environmental impact, but one critical limitation: they depend on nature. There is no sun at night. There is no wind every day. Without industrial-scale storage, they cannot be the sole backbone of the energy mix.

This is where nuclear energy comes in: clean, continuous, and weather-independent.

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billion tonnes of CO₂ per year
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Which sector accounts for 75% of global greenhouse gas emissions?

So how do we solve it?

Nuclear fusion is the answer science is building right now.