Energy Shift
The Safest Source of Energy Will Surprise You
The World’s Safest Source of Energy Will Surprise You
When it comes to conversations on energy, it’s hard to leave your feelings at the door.
It’s arguable that energy is the single most important driver of human progress – it’s a multi-trillion dollar industry that powers our daily lives, technological advancements, and even the economic development of entire countries. At the same time, our choices around energy can have significant consequences. How we decide to generate energy can decimate the environment, fuel political conflicts, and even cause human deaths as unwelcome side effects.
The outcomes from our choices around energy are so vivid, that we’ve developed strong and polarized associations with the subject at hand.
The Empirical Perspective
Today’s visualization on the safest sources of energy comes to us from Cambridge House, the company hosting the International Mining Investment Conference 2018 on May 15-16 in Vancouver, BC, and it uses an empirical approach to compare different energy sources with one another.
Based on the data, this comparison provides a perspective that will be surprising to many viewers. Despite its perceived dangers, nuclear is actually the safest type of energy.
Energy Source | Deaths per 1,000 TWh | % of Global Primary Energy Supply (2015) |
---|---|---|
Coal | 100,000 | 28.1% |
Oil | 36,000 | 31.7% |
Natural Gas | 4,000 | 21.6% |
Hydro | 1,400 | 2.5% |
Solar | 440* | <1% |
Wind | 150 | <1% |
Nuclear | 90 | 4.9% |
That’s right – even when including seemingly catastrophic incidents such as Chernobyl and Fukushima in the calculations, the math says that the amount of energy generated by nuclear is so vast that it more than outweighs these incidents over the long-term.
The reality is that nuclear energy is much more comparable to renewables like solar or wind, in terms of safety. More importantly, it’s on the polar opposite of the spectrum from coal, which manages to kill 4,400 people daily in China alone.
The Nuclear Option
Interestingly, multiple studies have come to this exact same conclusion, including the ones used in an analysis by economist Max Roser’s project called Our World in Data.
Even though the conclusion on nuclear is pretty cut and dry, it’s still hard to absorb. After all, the relative safety of nuclear ends up being extremely counter-intuitive to our human brains, which are seemingly wired to put more weight on big, memorable events (i.e. Chernobyl) rather than slow, consistent deaths that occur over time with other energy sources.
Today, nuclear provides about 11% of the world’s electricity from about 450 power reactors, generating about 2,500 TWh of electricity each year.
And while there are still questions that remain – specifically revolving around how to store certain types of nuclear waste – the above data explains why the majority of scientists classify nuclear as a sustainable and safe energy source, along with other renewables.
This post originally appeared on Visual Capitalist’s new VC Metals channel, home to data-driven visual content on metals, commodities, and energy.
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Energy Shift
Forecasting U.S. Clean Energy Job Creation by State (2019-2050)
The U.S. will have 5 million new clean energy jobs by 2050. Here we visualize the change in new clean energy jobs by state.

The Growth of Clean Energy Jobs by State
As the world is slowly moving towards a carbon-free future, job prospects within the renewable energy industry will see a boom in the coming years. Ranging from environmental scientists to renewable energy generation technicians and engineers, clean energy jobs are growing.
Between the shuttering of coal plants and companies making efforts to use renewable sources of energy, the United States on its own could see the creation of 5 million net new jobs within the energy-supply sector, driven by clean energy.
These jobs offer a more sustainable and high-paying alternative for the current and new workforce, especially in some of the country’s highly fossil-fuel-dependent states.
Based on analysis presented by Princeton University, the above infographic visualizes the forecasted change in energy-supply jobs in every state from 2019 to 2030 and up until 2050, in a net-zero scenario.
Shift in Energy Supply Jobs by 2030: Texas on the Forefront
Between 2020 and 2021, jobs in the oil and gas sector saw a 9% decline in Texas, a reduction of more than 55,000 in the state. Despite this, Texas is still one of the largest oil and natural gas producers, employing the highest number of people.
A rapid rise in employment in the clean energy industry will compensate for this decline in fossil fuel sector jobs. Texas fossil fuel unions have also signed onto the climate action plan and vowed to create more jobs in the clean energy sector.
In the process, Texas will see nearly 135,000 net new energy-supply jobs by 2030, more than any other state.
Here’s a look at the number of forecasted net new energy-supply jobs in the rest of the country:
State | Forecasted Net Change in Energy-supply Jobs (2019-2030) |
---|---|
Texas | 134,446 |
California | 73,259 |
Florida | 65,754 |
South Carolina | 55,058 |
Iowa | 46,295 |
Virginia | 43,250 |
New Mexico | 39,548 |
Indiana | 38,908 |
Missouri | 33,786 |
Oklahoma | 30,953 |
Nebraska | 30,866 |
Illinois | 30,003 |
New York | 26,063 |
North Carolina | 25,789 |
Kansas | 22,064 |
Colorado | 18,634 |
Washington | 17,272 |
Alabama | 12,977 |
New Jersey | 12,845 |
Minnesota | 12,726 |
Michigan | 12,546 |
Georgia | 12,375 |
Oregon | 11,794 |
Pennsylvania | 11,581 |
Massachusetts | 11,332 |
North Dakota | 10,319 |
Mississippi | 9,564 |
Louisiana | 7,460 |
Utah | 7,388 |
Idaho | 6,758 |
Maryland | 6,461 |
Connecticut | 6,429 |
Nevada | 6,358 |
Montana | 6,014 |
Ohio | 5,873 |
Kentucky | 5,106 |
Maine | 4,483 |
Arizona | 3,962 |
South Dakota | 3,904 |
Tennessee | 3,752 |
Wyoming | 2,458 |
New Hampshire | 2,167 |
Arkansas | 1,991 |
Vermont | 1,591 |
Delaware | 1,538 |
Rhode Island | 1,399 |
Wisconsin | 863 |
West Virginia | -1521 |
Total U.S. | 852,651 |
Note: Negative values indicate a decline in energy-supply jobs by 2030.
Shift in Energy Supply Jobs by 2050: Wisconsin Advances
Wisconsin has stated its desire to transition to 100% clean energy by 2050, growing the state’s economy by more than $21 billion.
According to Princeton, Wisconsin could also introduce more than 46,000 net new energy-supply jobs by 2050, a tremendous leap over the state’s 863 new jobs forecasted through 2030.
State | Forecasted Net Change in Energy-supply Jobs (2019-2050) |
---|---|
Texas | 728,899 |
California | 356,350 |
Iowa | 266,464 |
Florida | 262,254 |
Nebraska | 216,561 |
Oklahoma | 213,432 |
Virginia | 209,840 |
Colorado | 183,014 |
Indiana | 170,705 |
Illinois | 165,348 |
Minnesota | 154,014 |
Oregon | 139,981 |
Kansas | 135,561 |
Georgia | 130,015 |
Pennsylvania | 127,286 |
Missouri | 126,825 |
Alabama | 125,812 |
New York | 121,786 |
Washington | 107,267 |
Maine | 102,026 |
Mississippi | 92,425 |
North Dakota | 86,490 |
Michigan | 80,755 |
New Mexico | 76,566 |
Tennessee | 74,275 |
North Carolina | 74,150 |
South Carolina | 62,779 |
Wyoming | 61,225 |
Montana | 60,127 |
Ohio | 53,848 |
Wisconsin | 46,445 |
New Hampshire | 44,025 |
South Dakota | 43,916 |
Arkansas | 42,038 |
Maryland | 39,527 |
West Virginia | 32,439 |
Nevada | 30,990 |
Kentucky | 29,243 |
Idaho | 28,371 |
Utah | 28,059 |
Vermont | 26,293 |
Arizona | 14,399 |
Delaware | 11,954 |
New Jersey | 11,091 |
Louisiana | 9,969 |
Connecticut | 5,644 |
Rhode Island | 1,478 |
Massachusetts | -6,703 |
Total U.S. | 5,160,124 |
Note: Negative values indicate a decline in energy-supply jobs by 2050.
The state of Wyoming has the second-highest change in energy supply jobs, going from 2,400 jobs by 2030 to nearly 62,000 by 2050. Meanwhile, California, Florida, and Texas will continue their commitment to being leaders and introducing more clean energy-supply jobs by 2050.
The only states that will see a decline in clean energy jobs between their 2030 and 2050 totals are the northeastern states of Connecticut, New Jersey, and Massachusetts.
Most states have taken measures to create more sustainable and high-paying jobs without leaving the current workforce in the lurch. On average, U.S. states will see an increase of 105,000 energy-supply jobs by 2050.
As the states and the country make this transition and federal and private investment in the renewable energy industry increases, it’ll be interesting to keep track of how new clean energy jobs impact the economy.
Energy Shift
What Are the Five Major Types of Renewable Energy?
Renewable energy is the foundation of the ongoing energy transition. What are the key types of renewable energy, and how do they work?


The Renewable Energy Age
Awareness around climate change is shaping the future of the global economy in several ways.
Governments are planning how to reduce emissions, investors are scrutinizing companies’ environmental performance, and consumers are becoming conscious of their carbon footprints. But no matter the stakeholder, energy generation and consumption from fossil fuels is one of the biggest contributors to emissions.
Therefore, renewable energy sources have never been more top-of-mind than they are today.
The Five Types of Renewable Energy
Renewable energy technologies harness the power of the sun, wind, and heat from the Earth’s core, and then transforms it into usable forms of energy like heat, electricity, and fuel.
The above infographic uses data from Lazard, Ember, and other sources to outline everything you need to know about the five key types of renewable energy:
Energy Source | % of 2021 Global Electricity Generation | Avg. levelized cost of energy per MWh |
---|---|---|
Hydro 💧 | 15.3% | $64 |
Wind 🌬 | 6.6% | $38 |
Solar ☀️ | 3.7% | $36 |
Biomass 🌱 | 2.3% | $114 |
Geothermal ♨️ | <1% | $75 |
Editor’s note: We have excluded nuclear from the mix here, because although it is often defined as a sustainable energy source, it is not technically renewable (i.e. there are finite amounts of uranium).
Though often out of the limelight, hydro is the largest renewable electricity source, followed by wind and then solar.
Together, the five main sources combined for roughly 28% of global electricity generation in 2021, with wind and solar collectively breaking the 10% share barrier for the first time.
The levelized cost of energy (LCOE) measures the lifetime costs of a new utility-scale plant divided by total electricity generation. The LCOE of solar and wind is almost one-fifth that of coal ($167/MWh), meaning that new solar and wind plants are now much cheaper to build and operate than new coal plants over a longer time horizon.
With this in mind, here’s a closer look at the five types of renewable energy and how they work.
1. Wind
Wind turbines use large rotor blades, mounted at tall heights on both land and sea, to capture the kinetic energy created by wind.
When wind flows across the blade, the air pressure on one side of the blade decreases, pulling it down with a force described as the lift. The difference in air pressure across the two sides causes the blades to rotate, spinning the rotor.
The rotor is connected to a turbine generator, which spins to convert the wind’s kinetic energy into electricity.
2. Solar (Photovoltaic)
Solar technologies capture light or electromagnetic radiation from the sun and convert it into electricity.
Photovoltaic (PV) solar cells contain a semiconductor wafer, positive on one side and negative on the other, forming an electric field. When light hits the cell, the semiconductor absorbs the sunlight and transfers the energy in the form of electrons. These electrons are captured by the electric field in the form of an electric current.
A solar system’s ability to generate electricity depends on the semiconductor material, along with environmental conditions like heat, dirt, and shade.
3. Geothermal
Geothermal energy originates straight from the Earth’s core—heat from the core boils underground reservoirs of water, known as geothermal resources.
Geothermal plants typically use wells to pump hot water from geothermal resources and convert it into steam for a turbine generator. The extracted water and steam can then be reinjected, making it a renewable energy source.
4. Hydropower
Similar to wind turbines, hydropower plants channel the kinetic energy from flowing water into electricity by using a turbine generator.
Hydro plants are typically situated near bodies of water and use diversion structures like dams to change the flow of water. Power generation depends on the volume and change in elevation or head of the flowing water.
Greater water volumes and higher heads produce more energy and electricity, and vice versa.
5. Biomass
Humans have likely used energy from biomass or bioenergy for heat ever since our ancestors learned how to build fires.
Biomass—organic material like wood, dry leaves, and agricultural waste—is typically burned but considered renewable because it can be regrown or replenished. Burning biomass in a boiler produces high-pressure steam, which rotates a turbine generator to produce electricity.
Biomass is also converted into liquid or gaseous fuels for transportation. However, emissions from biomass vary with the material combusted and are often higher than other clean sources.
When Will Renewable Energy Take Over?
Despite the recent growth of renewables, fossil fuels still dominate the global energy mix.
Most countries are in the early stages of the energy transition, and only a handful get significant portions of their electricity from clean sources. However, the ongoing decade might see even more growth than recent record-breaking years.
The IEA forecasts that, by 2026, global renewable electricity capacity is set to grow by 60% from 2020 levels to over 4,800 gigawatts—equal to the current power output of fossil fuels and nuclear combined. So, regardless of when renewables will take over, it’s clear that the global energy economy will continue changing.

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