How much carbon dioxide is produced per kilowatthour when generating electricity with fossil fuels?

You can calculate the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) produced per kilowatthour (kWh) for specific fuels and specific types of generators by multiplying the CO2 emissions factor for the fuel (in pounds of CO2 per million Btu) by the heat rate of a generator (in Btu per kWh generated), and dividing the result by 1,000,000. 

Below are the number of pounds of CO2 produced from different fuels, the average heat rates for steam-electric generators in 2014 using those fuels, and the resulting amount of CO2 produced per kWh:

 

Fuel	Pounds of CO2 per million Btu	Heat rate (Btu per kWh)	Pounds of CO2 per kWh
Coal
Bituminous	205.691	10,080	2.07
Subbituminous	214.289	10,080	2.16
Lignite	215.392	10,080	2.17
Natural gas	116.999	10,408	1.22
Distillate oil (No. 2)	161.290	10,156	1.64
Residual oil (No. 6)	173.702	10,156	1.76

Last updated: February 29, 2016

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