390th largest plant in Illinois · 11440th nationally
Museum Of Science And Industry is a natural gas power plant in Illinois with a nameplate capacity of 1.7 MW. It generates roughly 37 MWh per year — enough to power about 3 average U.S. homes.
Its capacity factor of 0% reflects intermittent or peaking operation. At 1334 lb CO₂/MWh, its emission rate sits above the national grid average of roughly 800 lb/MWh.
| Plant Name | Museum Of Science And Industry |
|---|---|
| Operator | Museum Of Science And Industry |
| City | Chicago |
| County | Cook County |
| State | Illinois |
| ZIP | 60637 |
| Coordinates | 41.79056, -87.58278 |
This plant highlighted in navy-ringed pin; other generators within 25 miles shown as fuel-colored dots.
| ID | Technology | Fuel | Capacity | Status | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| COGEN | Natural Gas Internal Combustion Engine | Natural Gas | 1.7 MW | Operating | 2003 |
| CO₂ | 25 metric tons |
|---|---|
| NOₓ | 1 metric tons |
| CO₂ Rate | 1334 lb/MWh |
Annual totals and CO₂ rate reported by EPA eGRID for 2023. Reference averages are approximate U.S.-wide figures from the same dataset.
| NERC Region | RFC |
|---|---|
| Balancing Authority | Pjm Interconnection, Llc |
Natural gas plants are the workhorse of the modern grid. Combined-cycle units achieve very high efficiency and can ramp up and down quickly to balance variable renewables. They emit roughly half the CO₂ per MWh of coal and far less of other pollutants, but they still release upstream methane during fuel extraction.