Mapping the Carbon Footprint of the Global Grid

In August 2025, France had a carbon intensity of 25 gCO₂eq/kWh, while Missouri was 688 gCO₂eq/kWh. In other words, Missouri has a carbon intensity about 2,652% higher than France.

You can compare the carbon intensity of different regions and countries of the world for yourself using Electricity Maps. Electricity Maps is a sophisticated live visualization that tracks where your electricity comes from and how much CO₂ was emitted to produce it.

The map provides a real-time, high-granularity look at the physical reality of the global power grid. The primary layer of the map is a color-coded representation of Carbon Intensity. Regions shaded in deep greens (like Norway or France) are currently running on low-carbon sources like hydro or nuclear. Regions in dark greys and browns (like parts of the US Midwest or South Africa) are heavily reliant on fossil fuels, particularly coal.

By clicking on any individual zone on the map, you can see a detailed breakdown of the "Power Mix":

Production Sources: A real-time chart showing the percentage of solar, wind, nuclear, coal, gas, and more.

Carbon Intensity: The grams of carbon equivalent per kilowatt-hour ($gCO_2eq/kWh$).

Electricity Prices: In many regions, the map also tracks the wholesale cost of power.

The map reveals that the United States contains some of the world's most carbon-intensive energy regions, particularly in states heavily reliant on coal and natural gas. If anything the situation in the U.S. is set to get worse as Donald Trump has recently announced he wants to revitalize the domestic coal industry - frequently describing the fuel as 'beautiful' and 'clean'