Share of electricity generation from low-carbon sources
Renewables include solar, wind, hydropower, bioenergy, geothermal, wave, and tidal.
It seems like hydropower is doing a lot of lifting across the developing world. Spots like Ethiopia, Paraguay, and Brazil are all heavily dependent on hydroelectricity to power major municipalities and industrial centers.
As climate change impacts the volume and flow of major waterways, I’m a little worried how that ends up.
United States: 43%
That really shocked me. And, I gotta say, these numbers look deeply suspicious. I work in the Houston energy sector, and I can say we’re not slowing down development of the Permian Basin. US fossil fuel exports are only going up. Then there’s the big investment in data center fossil fuel plants that doesn’t seem to be in the forecasts.
That’s not to say we’re also not building out enormous new solar and wind facilities, even in the belly of the Texas Beast. But the Flint Run plant alone is more than they’re reporting. And that’s assuming Trump doesn’t get his 1.25-gigawatt Terra Energy Center in Alaska.
And, I gotta say, these numbers look deeply suspicious. I work in the Houston energy sector, and I can say we’re not slowing down development of the Permian Basin.
I think liquid hydrocarbons are much more likely to be used directly in combustion engines, rather than electricity generation. So even as oil production increases, the percentage of electricity coming from high carbon sources might still be dropping, while the primary energy numbers might go the other way.
But if you look at primary energy mix, fossil fuels are much, much higher percentage: something like 16.8% low carbon (renewable + hydro + nuclear), 35.0% gas, 38.8% oil, 9.3% coal.
It seems like hydropower is doing a lot of lifting across the developing world. Spots like Ethiopia, Paraguay, and Brazil are all heavily dependent on hydroelectricity to power major municipalities and industrial centers.
As climate change impacts the volume and flow of major waterways, I’m a little worried how that ends up.
That really shocked me. And, I gotta say, these numbers look deeply suspicious. I work in the Houston energy sector, and I can say we’re not slowing down development of the Permian Basin. US fossil fuel exports are only going up. Then there’s the big investment in data center fossil fuel plants that doesn’t seem to be in the forecasts.
That’s not to say we’re also not building out enormous new solar and wind facilities, even in the belly of the Texas Beast. But the Flint Run plant alone is more than they’re reporting. And that’s assuming Trump doesn’t get his 1.25-gigawatt Terra Energy Center in Alaska.
I think liquid hydrocarbons are much more likely to be used directly in combustion engines, rather than electricity generation. So even as oil production increases, the percentage of electricity coming from high carbon sources might still be dropping, while the primary energy numbers might go the other way.
So for our electricity mix in 2025, we reached 17.4% nuclear, 10.3% wind, 8.6% solar, 5.4% hydro, 1.0% bioenergy.
But if you look at primary energy mix, fossil fuels are much, much higher percentage: something like 16.8% low carbon (renewable + hydro + nuclear), 35.0% gas, 38.8% oil, 9.3% coal.
Okay, that makes a lot more sense. Thanks for clarifying.