Introduction
For Post 35, we asked Climate Scorecard Country Managers to describe where the electricity comes from that is consumed in their countries. What is the amount of total electricity consumption? How has consumption been trending since 1990, or at least over the last 10 years? What percentage of total consumption comes from coal, oil, natural gas and other fossil fuels? What percentage comes from solar, wind, and other renewables? What percentage comes from nuclear power? What is imported and what is exported?
Unfortunately, as our country reports demonstrate, fossil fuels are still the dominant source of electricity in many leading greenhouse gas emitting countries e.g. Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey. Natural gas is replacing coal in several countries, e.g. Australia and the United Kingdom. Nuclear power also has a major role in several countries, e.g. France, Spain, Russia, and Japan. In a growing number of countries (Australia, Brazil, China, the European Union, Germany, and the United States) there is a promising trend towards renewables.
The Country Reports that follow provide greater detail about the sourcing electricity in eighteen leading greenhouse gas emitting countries.
Country Reports
Increased Consumption Demand in Australia Has Been Largely Met Through Gas and Renewable Energy
According to International Energy Agency statistics, Australia consumed 248 Terawatt hours (TWh) of electricity in 2018, up from 146 TWh in 1990. In 2019, official Australian government statistics broke down the electricity generation mix as follows: 56% coal, 21% gas, 21% renewable energy (solar, wind, and hydro), and 2% oil. As evidenced in the graph…
Brazil Sources 45% of its Energy from Renewables
Brazil is one of the largest energy producing countries in the world and the third–largest producer in the Western Hemisphere. In regards to the UN’s 7th Sustainable Development Goal (Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all), Brazil’s energy policies actually have been very effective in meeting world’s most urgent energy challenges….
Canada’s Electricity is Largely Hydro-Driven
National Resources Canada describes the country’s total electricity generation in 2018 as 641 terawatt hours (TWh), or 2% of the world’s electricity generation. The breakdown of Canada’s energy usage is as follows: 60% hydro, 15% nuclear. 7% coal, 11% natural gas, and 7% renewables. In 2019, Canada exported 60.4 TWh—or 8%—of its electricity to the…
Electricity Consumption and Renewable Usage Have Increased in China While Steady Energy Intensity Has Decreased
Figures for China’s electricity consumption and the energy mix behind it differ across various relevant monitors. The International Energy Agency states China’s electricity consumption for 2018 was roughly 6.833 Terawatt Hours (TWh)—an increase of nearly 1079% since 1990. Coal-generated and hydro-generated electricity made up the largest proportion of the country’s energy usage, followed by wind…
As of 2018, 28.5% of the EU’s Electricity Supply was Generated from Renewable Energy Sources
Image 1 (source) The European Union’s electricity consumption has seen a number of positive trends since 1990, especially with the use of coal and oil in decline and an increase in renewable energy usage. However, in order to achieve the targets outlined by the Paris agreement, it is clear that the energy sector must continue…
French Electricity Dependence on Nuclear to Decrease with Passing of Energy and Climate Law
As seen below in Figure 1, France derives the majority of their electricity from their large nuclear fleet with an overwhelming 70% of 2019 electricity coming from nuclear. Hydro is the second largest source at 10.9% followed by natural gas (6.7%), wind (6.1%), solar (2.0%), coal (1.1%), oil (1.1%), biofuels (1.1%), waste (0.9%), and tide…
In 2020, Germany Produced More Than Half of Its Electricity From Renewable Resources for the First Time
According to the latest data published by the Ministry of Energy and Economics, 42.1% of Germany’s energy was produced by renewable resources. Initially, the country’s 2020 target for renewable resource energy production was set at 35%, meaning they are roughly 18 months ahead of schedule. The primary source in Germany’s renewable portfolio is wind, which…
Indonesia Still Sources the Majority of its Electricity from Fossil Fuels
Indonesia’s total electricity consumption for the year 2018 was 263.32 Terawatt hours (TWh), nearly a 10-fold increase from their total electricity consumption of 29.48 TWh in 1990. Most of Indonesia’s 2018 electricity usage was primarily derived from coal. The second-largest source of electricity for the country was natural gas, followed by hydropower, geothermal power, oil,…
Fossil Fuels Make Up the Majority of Electricity Consumption in Japan
Japan’s total electricity consumption in 2018 was recorded to be 1012.75 Terawatt hours (TWh), an increase of 22.03% compared to 1990 levels. This figure had been steadily increasing since 1990, ultimately reaching a peak in 2010 at 1123.75 TWh (IEA, 2020). Ever since, electricity consumption has been decreasing slightly; this trend can be attributed to…
Mixed Signals Drive Back Renewables in Mexico
A country’s energy generation capacity is influenced directly by its location and available natural resources; that is what makes Mexico such an opportunistic country to acquire multiple energy sources to power its electric grid. It currently uses most of the energy sources available to it, except tidal, wave, and hydrogen. According to IEA, Mexico consumed 285…
A Significant Portion of Nigeria’s Population is Still Without Access to Electricity
Nigeria has a very different story than most of the countries that Climate Scorecard reports on. As a developing country, Nigeria still has large segment of the population living without access to electricity. In 2018, 56.5% of the country’s population had access to electricity, an undoubtedly low figure when compared to global levels of 89.6%…
The Majority of Russia’s Electric Supply Comes from Natural Gas
Following the collapse of the Society Union in 1991, total electricity consumption in Russia decreased rapidly only to gradually begin increasing again after 1998. It seems to have levelled off in 2018 and was even reduced by a tiny fraction in 2019. In 2018, electricity consumption levels amounted to 999.4 Terawatt hours (TWh). Electricity consumption…
Saudi Arabia’s National Grid Still Largely Fueled by Carbon-Intense Energy Sources
Saudi Arabia’s electricity is primarily composed of fossil fuel sources—particularly natural gas and crude oil—with a small but increasing amount from solar energy. For its electricity, the Kingdom sources 218,470 Gigawatt hours (GWh) (or 60%) from natural gas, 159,528 GWh (or 40%) from crude oil, and 155 GWh (or < 1%) from solar energy. In…
Majority of Spain’s Electricity Comes from Fuels
In 2018, the total amount of electricity produced in Spain was 274.452 Terawatt hours (TWh), as outlined in Table 1 below. The main electricity sources in the country are nuclear (20.3%), wind (18.5%), solar photovoltaic (2.9%) and solar thermal (1.7%), hydraulics (13.7%) and fuels (43.05%). The main types of fuels include anthracite, biogas, blast furnace…
Turkey’s Electricity Consumption was 272.53 Terawatt hours (TWh) in 2018, a 443.65% increase over 1990 levels (Source: IEA)
Since 1990, Turkey’s electricity consumption has steadily increased with period decreases in 2001 and 2010. The country consumed 50.13 Terawatt hours (TWh) of electricity in 1990 and 272.53 TWh in 2018. This thirty-year trend represents a 443.65% increase in electricity consumption throughout Turkey. From largest to smallest share in Gigawatt hours (GWh), Turkey’s electricity sources…
UK’s Electricity Sources Have Drastically Shifted Over the Past 30 Years
The UK has seen a 6% increase in electricity use since 1990. However, its energy production has decreased by over 40%, displaying a significant change in energy efficiency. Electricity generation by source (1990-2019) The way in which electricity is sourced in the UK in the last 30 years has shifted drastically: coal has dropped from…
Ukraine Government Fails to Adequately Support Renewable Energy
As outlined in the table below, the major sources of electricity in Ukraine during the first 6 months of 2020 included nuclear power, thermal power, and hydroelectric power. Total electricity production for this time period was 73 431 million kWh with electricity exports equaling 2 676,4 million kWh and imports equaling 1 756,6 million kWh….
United States Leads the Way in the Growth of Renewables for Power Generation
According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), the U.S. consumed a total of 4288.76 Terawatt hours (TWh) of electricity in 2018, an increase of 46.88% from 1990 and 16% since 2008. According to the United States Energy Information Administration (EIA), the U.S. received 28% of its electricity from coal, 34% from natural gas, 20% from…
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