How much land does it take to power the world? episode artwork

EPISODE · Aug 1, 2026 · 7 MIN

How much land does it take to power the world?

from TED-Ed · host TED-Ed

Explore the sustainability of fossil fuels, nuclear power, and renewable energy and how much space each of these power sources use.--No matter how we make electricity, it takes up space. Coal requires mines, and plants to convert it into electricity. Nuclear power takes uranium mines, facilities to refine it, a reactor, and a place to store the spent fuel safely. Renewable energy needs wind turbines or solar panels. So how much space would it take to power the whole world? Explore the sustainability of different power sources.Directed by Lisa LaBracio.Animation and art direction by Kevin Herrmann, AIM Creative Studios.In partnership with Bill Gates, inspired by his book "How To Avoid A Climate Disaster": http://bit.ly/PlanForZeroSupport Our Non-Profit Mission----------------------------------------------Support us on Patreon: http://bit.ly/TEDEdPatreonCheck out our merch: http://bit.ly/TEDEDShop----------------------------------------------Connect With Us----------------------------------------------Sign up for our newsletter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdNewsletterFollow us on Facebook: http://bit.ly/TEDEdFacebookFind us on Twitter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdTwitterPeep us on Instagram: http://bit.ly/TEDEdInstagram----------------------------------------------Keep Learning----------------------------------------------View full lesson: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-much-land-does-it-take-to-power-the-worldDig deeper with additional resources: Animator's website: http://aimcreativestudios.com/Music: https://soundcloud.com/aim-music----------------------------------------------Thank you so much to our patrons for your support! Without you this video would not be possible! Marc Bilodeau, Karen Goepen-Wee, Filip Dabrowski, Barbara Smalley, Megan Douglas, Chris, Tim Leistikow, Renhe Ji, Ka-Hei Law, Leora Allen, Mark Morris, Misaki Sato, EdoKun , Boytsov Ilya, SookKwan Loong, Bev Millar, Lex Azevedo, Noa Shore, Kyle Nguyen, Michael Aquilina, MJ Tan Mingjie, Dawn Jordan, Prasanth Mathialagan, Samuel Doerle, David Rosario, Siamak H, Manav parmar, David Lucsanyi, Anthony Kudolo, Ryohky Araya, Eduardo Briceño, Christophe Dessalles, Heather Slater, Yuh Saito, Fabian Amels, Sandra Tersluisen, Zhexi Shan, Bárbara Nazaré, Josh Engel, Andrea Feliz, Victor E Karhel, Sydney Evans, Latora Slydell, Noel Situ, emily lam, Sid, Jordan Tang, Kent Logan, Alexandra Panzer and Declan Manning. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Aug 1, 2026

Embed this episode

NOW PLAYING

How much land does it take to power the world?

0:00 7:32

No transcript for this episode yet

We transcribe on demand. Request one and we'll notify you when it's ready — usually under 10 minutes.

No similar episodes found.

No similar podcasts found.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long is this episode of TED-Ed?

This episode is 7 minutes long.

When was this TED-Ed episode published?

This episode was published on August 1, 2026.

Can I download this TED-Ed episode?

Yes. Use the download control on the episode player to save the publisher-provided media file.
URL copied to clipboard!