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Interesting Electrical Facts

How do other countries electricity compare to the U.S.?

3/26/2022

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Iceland is the country that uses the most electricity per capita in the world, 2.5 times that of the U.S.   One of the benefits of being located in one of the most tectonically active places in the world is that they have an abundant supply of geothermal sources.  Geothermal power facilities currently generate 25% of the country's total electricity production 2 and the rest of the country’s energy comes from Hydro power.  Only .1% of electricity is generated from fossil fuels.  This is the world’s highest share of renewable energy in any national total energy budget.

China is the largest producer of electricity in the world producing 31% more electricity than the U.S.  It is no surprise then that it is also the largest emitter of greenhouse gasses and 73% of  China’s electricity is generated from coal.   Factoring in its population, however, its annual CO2 emissions ranks only 43rd in the world per capita 6 and has half of the emissions per person than in the U.S. 7  In 2015 they invested $100 billion in clean energy which was more than double the U.S. investment.  Five of the six largest solar module manufacturing firms globally are Chinese.
 
France has chosen Nuclear energy as its primary source of electricity generation.  75% of its electricity comes from nuclear plants and 15% from Hydro.  France has nearly the lowest cost of electricity in Europe and one of the lowest levels of CO2 emissions.  However the future of Frances electrical energy mix may not be nuclear as many have been shut down with more to come due to low public opinion  and inferior maintenance.   In 2015 France passed a mandatory renewable energy target requiring 40% electricity production to come from renewable sources which would double its current renewable energy mix.
 
Google searches account for about 0.013% of the worlds’ energy usage which equals enough electricity to power 200,000 homes continuously.  The energy it takes to conduct 100 searches on Google is the equivalent of a running a standard 60W light bulb for 17 seconds and translates to roughly .2g of carbon CO2 emissions.    more Google energy facts
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    Author

    Brent is an electrical engineer specializing in utility power systems with a master’s in Energy Policy and Management an MBA, PMP and a degree in Spanish.

    ​Brent has 25+ years of experience working for a variety of large electric utilities as a distribution, transmission and generation engineer.  He currently teaches courses on electric utilities and manages the installation of generation facilities, microgrids, distributed energy resources, and various grid edge research and development projects. 

    View my profile on LinkedIn
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