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| 36038 | Which countries get the most energy from low-carbon sources? | untitled-reusable-block-226 | wp_block | publish | <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Globally, just 16% of primary energy (15.7% to be precise) came from low-carbon sources – nuclear and renewables – in 2019. We are a long way away from the goal to shift towards a low-carbon energy system.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>But do some countries do much better than this? Do we have examples of countries who are already paving the way towards a fossil-free energy mix?</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":4} --> <h4>Which countries are doing better in low-carbon energy production than the global average?</h4> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In the interactive map here we see the world split into two categories: countries which get <em>more</em> of their energy from low-carbon sources than the global average of 15.7%; and those that get <em>less</em>.{ref}This breakdown of primary energy is based on the ‘substitution method’ which corrects for the inefficiencies in energy production from fossil fuels, and is a better representation of low-carbon energy’s share of ‘useful energy’. For an in-depth discussion and comparison of different ways of accounting for energy production, see <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/energy-mix#direct-vs-substituted-primary-energy-what-are-the-multiple-ways-of-energy-accounting"><strong>our explainer</strong></a>.{/ref} </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>What immediately stands out is that there is a reasonably strong East-West divide: most Western economies get a larger share of energy from low-carbon sources, and those in East get less. Of course this boundary is not absolute: the Netherlands and Ireland, for example, are below the global average.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This divide may be in part, due to differences in income: many richer countries with a long history of fossil fuel-rich energy systems have already shifted away from them.{ref}In <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/share-of-low-carbon-energy-vs-gdp">this related chart</a> you can see how the share of primary energy from low-carbon sources relates to average income – GDP per capita. This relationship is by no means clear-cut: many rich countries get very little energy from low-carbon sources; and poorer countries get a high share. But overall we see that more rich countries tend to lie above the dotted global average line than countries at lower incomes.{/ref} </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>For many poorer countries in our map, no data is shown. This is because the BP Statistical Review of World Energy does not cover all countries in the world – it relies on energy statistics from commercially-traded fuels. This means traditional biomass burning – a dominant source of energy at lower incomes are not included. Typically <a href="http://ourworldindata.org/co2-emissions">energy-related emissions</a> from low income countries are small because <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/energy-access">access to energy</a> – both electricity and modern cooking fuels – is low.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:html --> <iframe src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/low-carbon-energy-vs-global"></iframe> <!-- /wp:html --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":4} --> <h4>Which countries get the highest share of energy from low-carbon sources?</h4> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We have a rough categorization of countries that are above and below the global average. But let’s take a closer look at the numbers.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In the interactive map here we see the share of primary energy that comes from low-carbon sources across countries.{ref}This breakdown of primary energy is based on the ‘substitution method’ which corrects for the inefficiencies in energy production from fossil fuels, and is a better representation of low-carbon energy’s share of ‘useful energy’. For an in-depth discussion and comparison of different ways of accounting for energy production, see <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/energy-mix#direct-vs-substituted-primary-energy-what-are-the-multiple-ways-of-energy-accounting"><strong>our explainer</strong></a>.{/ref}</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:html --> <iframe src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/low-carbon-share-energy"></iframe> <!-- /wp:html --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In 2019, Iceland got 79% of its energy from low-carbon sources. This was the highest in the world. Most of this came from hydropower (55%) but also other renewables – mainly geothermal energy (24%). You see this breakdown in the interactive chart below. Using the “change country” toggle you can switch to see the breakdown for other countries.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:html --> <iframe src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/energy-consumption-by-source-and-region?country=~ISL"></iframe> <!-- /wp:html --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>But Iceland wasn’t the only country to get most of its energy from low-carbon sources: Sweden (69%); Norway (66%) France (49%) and Switzerland (49%) all got a large amount from nuclear or renewables.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Finland, and Brazil also had a high share – more than 40%. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>At the other end of the scale, some countries rely almost entirely on fossil fuels. Many of the world’s oil-producing countries – Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Kuwait – got less than 1% from low-carbon sources. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Amongst the largest emerging economies, South Africa produced only 5% from low-carbon sources; India got 9%; and China, 15%. Brazil, as we mentioned earlier, achieves a much higher share – 46% in 2019.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Globally, our progress in shifting towards a low-carbon economy has been slow. That may leave us pessimistic about a path forward. But some countries – often some of the world’s richest countries who have high <a href="http://ourworldindata.org/co2-emissions">carbon footprints</a> – show us that significant progress on decarbonizing our energy systems is possible. They still have a long way to go but are moving in the right direction.<br>Poorer countries face a bigger challenge: they must grow their economies, giving their populations <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/energy-access">access to energy</a>, healthcare and <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/extreme-poverty">alleviating poverty</a> whilst avoiding the carbon-intensive pathways today’s rich countries have taken. To do this, they need clean energy to be cheap, undercutting fossil fuel alternatives. In this regard, the world’s richest countries also have a role to play: the scale-up of low-carbon energy should help to drive down costs. We have already seen this effect with the rapid <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/solar-pv-prices-vs-cumulative-capacity">decline in solar prices</a> in recent years.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> | {
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2020-08-21 08:53:02 | 2024-02-16 14:23:00 | [
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2020-08-21 09:53:19 | 2021-01-08 10:50:01 | {} |
Globally, just 16% of primary energy (15.7% to be precise) came from low-carbon sources – nuclear and renewables – in 2019. We are a long way away from the goal to shift towards a low-carbon energy system. But do some countries do much better than this? Do we have examples of countries who are already paving the way towards a fossil-free energy mix? ## Which countries are doing better in low-carbon energy production than the global average? In the interactive map here we see the world split into two categories: countries which get _more_ of their energy from low-carbon sources than the global average of 15.7%; and those that get _less_.{ref}This breakdown of primary energy is based on the ‘substitution method’ which corrects for the inefficiencies in energy production from fossil fuels, and is a better representation of low-carbon energy’s share of ‘useful energy’. For an in-depth discussion and comparison of different ways of accounting for energy production, see [**our explainer**](https://ourworldindata.org/energy-mix#direct-vs-substituted-primary-energy-what-are-the-multiple-ways-of-energy-accounting).{/ref} What immediately stands out is that there is a reasonably strong East-West divide: most Western economies get a larger share of energy from low-carbon sources, and those in East get less. Of course this boundary is not absolute: the Netherlands and Ireland, for example, are below the global average. This divide may be in part, due to differences in income: many richer countries with a long history of fossil fuel-rich energy systems have already shifted away from them.{ref}In [this related chart](https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/share-of-low-carbon-energy-vs-gdp) you can see how the share of primary energy from low-carbon sources relates to average income – GDP per capita. This relationship is by no means clear-cut: many rich countries get very little energy from low-carbon sources; and poorer countries get a high share. But overall we see that more rich countries tend to lie above the dotted global average line than countries at lower incomes.{/ref} For many poorer countries in our map, no data is shown. This is because the BP Statistical Review of World Energy does not cover all countries in the world – it relies on energy statistics from commercially-traded fuels. This means traditional biomass burning – a dominant source of energy at lower incomes are not included. Typically [energy-related emissions](http://ourworldindata.org/co2-emissions) from low income countries are small because [access to energy](https://ourworldindata.org/energy-access) – both electricity and modern cooking fuels – is low. <Chart url="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/low-carbon-energy-vs-global"/> ## Which countries get the highest share of energy from low-carbon sources? We have a rough categorization of countries that are above and below the global average. But let’s take a closer look at the numbers. In the interactive map here we see the share of primary energy that comes from low-carbon sources across countries.{ref}This breakdown of primary energy is based on the ‘substitution method’ which corrects for the inefficiencies in energy production from fossil fuels, and is a better representation of low-carbon energy’s share of ‘useful energy’. For an in-depth discussion and comparison of different ways of accounting for energy production, see [**our explainer**](https://ourworldindata.org/energy-mix#direct-vs-substituted-primary-energy-what-are-the-multiple-ways-of-energy-accounting).{/ref} <Chart url="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/low-carbon-share-energy"/> In 2019, Iceland got 79% of its energy from low-carbon sources. This was the highest in the world. Most of this came from hydropower (55%) but also other renewables – mainly geothermal energy (24%). You see this breakdown in the interactive chart below. Using the “change country” toggle you can switch to see the breakdown for other countries. <Chart url="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/energy-consumption-by-source-and-region?country=~ISL"/> But Iceland wasn’t the only country to get most of its energy from low-carbon sources: Sweden (69%); Norway (66%) France (49%) and Switzerland (49%) all got a large amount from nuclear or renewables. Finland, and Brazil also had a high share – more than 40%. At the other end of the scale, some countries rely almost entirely on fossil fuels. Many of the world’s oil-producing countries – Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Kuwait – got less than 1% from low-carbon sources. Amongst the largest emerging economies, South Africa produced only 5% from low-carbon sources; India got 9%; and China, 15%. Brazil, as we mentioned earlier, achieves a much higher share – 46% in 2019. Globally, our progress in shifting towards a low-carbon economy has been slow. That may leave us pessimistic about a path forward. But some countries – often some of the world’s richest countries who have high [carbon footprints](http://ourworldindata.org/co2-emissions) – show us that significant progress on decarbonizing our energy systems is possible. They still have a long way to go but are moving in the right direction. Poorer countries face a bigger challenge: they must grow their economies, giving their populations [access to energy](https://ourworldindata.org/energy-access), healthcare and [alleviating poverty](https://ourworldindata.org/extreme-poverty) whilst avoiding the carbon-intensive pathways today’s rich countries have taken. To do this, they need clean energy to be cheap, undercutting fossil fuel alternatives. In this regard, the world’s richest countries also have a role to play: the scale-up of low-carbon energy should help to drive down costs. We have already seen this effect with the rapid [decline in solar prices](https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/solar-pv-prices-vs-cumulative-capacity) in recent years. | {
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For an in-depth discussion and comparison of different ways of accounting for energy production, see <a href=\"https://ourworldindata.org/energy-mix#direct-vs-substituted-primary-energy-what-are-the-multiple-ways-of-energy-accounting\"><strong>our explainer</strong></a>.{/ref} </p>\n\n\n\n<p>What immediately stands out is that there is a reasonably strong East-West divide: most Western economies get a larger share of energy from low-carbon sources, and those in East get less. Of course this boundary is not absolute: the Netherlands and Ireland, for example, are below the global average.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>This divide may be in part, due to differences in income: many richer countries with a long history of fossil fuel-rich energy systems have already shifted away from them.{ref}In <a href=\"https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/share-of-low-carbon-energy-vs-gdp\">this related chart</a> you can see how the share of primary energy from low-carbon sources relates to average income \u2013 GDP per capita. This relationship is by no means clear-cut: many rich countries get very little energy from low-carbon sources; and poorer countries get a high share. But overall we see that more rich countries tend to lie above the dotted global average line than countries at lower incomes.{/ref} </p>\n\n\n\n<p>For many poorer countries in our map, no data is shown. This is because the BP Statistical Review of World Energy does not cover all countries in the world \u2013 it relies on energy statistics from commercially-traded fuels. This means traditional biomass burning \u2013 a dominant source of energy at lower incomes are not included. Typically <a href=\"http://ourworldindata.org/co2-emissions\">energy-related emissions</a> from low income countries are small because <a href=\"https://ourworldindata.org/energy-access\">access to energy</a> \u2013 both electricity and modern cooking fuels \u2013 is low.</p>\n\n\n\n<iframe src=\"https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/low-carbon-energy-vs-global\"></iframe>\n\n\n\n<h4>Which countries get the highest share of energy from low-carbon sources?</h4>\n\n\n\n<p>We have a rough categorization of countries that are above and below the global average. But let\u2019s take a closer look at the numbers.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the interactive map here we see the share of primary energy that comes from low-carbon sources across countries.{ref}This breakdown of primary energy is based on the \u2018substitution method\u2019 which corrects for the inefficiencies in energy production from fossil fuels, and is a better representation of low-carbon energy\u2019s share of \u2018useful energy\u2019. For an in-depth discussion and comparison of different ways of accounting for energy production, see <a href=\"https://ourworldindata.org/energy-mix#direct-vs-substituted-primary-energy-what-are-the-multiple-ways-of-energy-accounting\"><strong>our explainer</strong></a>.{/ref}</p>\n\n\n\n<iframe src=\"https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/low-carbon-share-energy\"></iframe>\n\n\n\n<p>In 2019, Iceland got 79% of its energy from low-carbon sources. This was the highest in the world. Most of this came from hydropower (55%) but also other renewables \u2013 mainly geothermal energy (24%). You see this breakdown in the interactive chart below. Using the \u201cchange country\u201d toggle you can switch to see the breakdown for other countries.</p>\n\n\n\n<iframe src=\"https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/energy-consumption-by-source-and-region?country=~ISL\"></iframe>\n\n\n\n<p>But Iceland wasn\u2019t the only country to get most of its energy from low-carbon sources: Sweden (69%); Norway (66%) France (49%) and Switzerland (49%) all got a large amount from nuclear or renewables.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Finland, and Brazil also had a high share \u2013 more than 40%. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>At the other end of the scale, some countries rely almost entirely on fossil fuels. Many of the world\u2019s oil-producing countries \u2013 Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Kuwait \u2013 got less than 1% from low-carbon sources. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>Amongst the largest emerging economies, South Africa produced only 5% from low-carbon sources; India got 9%; and China, 15%. Brazil, as we mentioned earlier, achieves a much higher share \u2013 46% in 2019.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Globally, our progress in shifting towards a low-carbon economy has been slow. That may leave us pessimistic about a path forward. But some countries \u2013 often some of the world\u2019s richest countries who have high <a href=\"http://ourworldindata.org/co2-emissions\">carbon footprints</a> \u2013 show us that significant progress on decarbonizing our energy systems is possible. They still have a long way to go but are moving in the right direction.<br>Poorer countries face a bigger challenge: they must grow their economies, giving their populations <a href=\"https://ourworldindata.org/energy-access\">access to energy</a>, healthcare and <a href=\"https://ourworldindata.org/extreme-poverty\">alleviating poverty</a> whilst avoiding the carbon-intensive pathways today\u2019s rich countries have taken. To do this, they need clean energy to be cheap, undercutting fossil fuel alternatives. In this regard, the world\u2019s richest countries also have a role to play: the scale-up of low-carbon energy should help to drive down costs. We have already seen this effect with the rapid <a href=\"https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/solar-pv-prices-vs-cumulative-capacity\">decline in solar prices</a> in recent years.</p>\n"
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