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Trading Places: Electricity from Renewables vs. Coal in G20 Nations

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What powers the World Coal vs Renewables

Electricity generated by new wind and solar helped to force a record fall in global coal power in 2020.

Electricity from Renewables vs. Coal in G20 Nations

As the COVID-19 pandemic has forced people to work and shop from home, cancel gatherings, and reduce the use of transportation, it has also paused the world’s rising demand for electricity.

The pandemic has opened a window of opportunity to reduce the share of power generated by fossil fuels. When demand for electricity drops, coal plants are usually switched off first since the process of burning fuels constantly runs up costs. In contrast, renewables such as wind and solar plants, once built, have significantly lower running costs.

This infographic based on Ember’s Global Electricity Review shows how wind and solar generation rose robustly in 2020 by 15% (+314 TWh), compared to 2019. That helped coal use to fall a record 4% (-346 TWh).

Accelerating the Use of Renewables

Wind and solar produced 9.4% of the world’s electricity last year, doubling from 4.6% in 2015.

Wind and solar as % share of electricity production for G20 countries

Country201020152020
Germany8.02%18.57%32.7%
United Kingdom2.73%14.26%28.52%
EU-275.52%12.65%19.57%
Australia2.28%6.92%17.09%
Italy3.7%13.45%16.54%
Turkey1.44%4.73%11.99%
United States2.32%5.61%11.58%
Brazil0.43%3.81%10.61%
Japan0.68%4.05%10.1%
France1.87%5.08%9.92%
Mexico0.49%2.95%9.78%
China1.17%3.92%9.54%
World1.81%4.65%9.42%
India2.4%3.45%8.88%
Argentina0.02%0.44%7.96%
Canada1.52%4.62%6.05%
South Africa0.02%2%5.53%
South Korea0.34%1.01%3.84%
Russia0%0.05%0.29%
Indonesia0%0%0.21%

As you can see in the table above, many G20 countries now get around a tenth of their electricity from wind and solar, including India (9%), China (9.5%), Japan (10%), Brazil (11%), the U.S. (12%), and Turkey (12%).

Europe led wind and solar generation around the world, with Germany producing 33% and the United Kingdom at 29%. Overall, electricity demand fell 3.5% in the European Union.

Is This the End of Coal?

Coal generation collapsed almost everywhere in 2020 compared to 2019, with large falls in the U.S. (-20%), EU (-20%), and India (-5%).

China was the only G20 nation to show a large increase in coal generation (+1.7%). Overall, the country saw a 4% increase in electricity demand in 2020, as it was the first to restart production after the first months of the COVID-19 crisis.

China is now responsible for 53% of the world’s coal-fired electricity, up from 44% in 2015.

Change in coal generation, for G20 countries

Country2019-2020
China+1.7%
India-5%
Turkey -6%
Russia -9%
World-4%
South Africa-5%
South Korea-13%
Australia-5%
Japan-1%
Brazil-12%
Canada-8%
Argentina0%
United States-20%
EU-27-20%
Germany -22%
Mexico-48%
France -3%
Italy -24%
United Kingdom -23%
Saudi Arabia 0%

The pandemic has put political leaders in a unique position: along with additional policies such as eliminating subsidies for fossil fuels and increasing investments in wind and solar power, it is now easier than ever before to accelerate the end of high-carbon electricity.

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Energy Shift

How Much Does the U.S. Depend on Russian Uranium?

Despite a new uranium ban being discussed in Congress, the U.S. is still heavily dependent on Russian uranium.

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Voronoi graphic visualizing U.S. reliance on Russian uranium

How Much Does the U.S. Depend on Russian Uranium?

This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.

The U.S. House of Representatives recently passed a ban on imports of Russian uranium. The bill must pass the Senate before becoming law.

In this graphic, we visualize how much the U.S. relies on Russian uranium, based on data from the United States Energy Information Administration (EIA).

U.S. Suppliers of Enriched Uranium

After Russia invaded Ukraine, the U.S. imposed sanctions on Russian-produced oil and gas—yet Russian-enriched uranium is still being imported.

Currently, Russia is the largest foreign supplier of nuclear power fuel to the United States. In 2022, Russia supplied almost a quarter of the enriched uranium used to fuel America’s fleet of more than 90 commercial reactors.

Country of enrichment service SWU*%
🇺🇸 United States3,87627.34%
🇷🇺 Russia3,40924.04%
🇩🇪 Germany1,76312.40%
🇬🇧 United Kingdom1,59311.23%
🇳🇱 Netherlands1,3039.20%
Other2,23215.79%
Total14,176100%

SWU stands for “Separative Work Unit” in the uranium industry. It is a measure of the amount of work required to separate isotopes of uranium during the enrichment process. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration

Most of the remaining uranium is imported from European countries, while another portion is produced by a British-Dutch-German consortium operating in the United States called Urenco.

Similarly, nearly a dozen countries around the world depend on Russia for more than half of their enriched uranium—and many of them are NATO-allied members and allies of Ukraine.

In 2023 alone, the U.S. nuclear industry paid over $800 million to Russia’s state-owned nuclear energy corporation, Rosatom, and its fuel subsidiaries.

It is important to note that 19% of electricity in the U.S. is powered by nuclear plants.

The dependency on Russian fuels dates back to the 1990s when the United States turned away from its own enrichment capabilities in favor of using down-blended stocks of Soviet-era weapons-grade uranium.

As part of the new uranium-ban bill, the Biden administration plans to allocate $2.2 billion for the expansion of uranium enrichment facilities in the United States.

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Energy Shift

Visualizing the Rise of the U.S. as Top Crude Oil Producer

Over the last decade, the U.S. has surpassed Saudi Arabia and Russia as the world’s top producer of crude oil.

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Line chart showing how the U.S. has surpassed Saudi Arabia and Russia as the world's top producer of crude oil.

Visualizing the Rise of the U.S. as Top Crude Oil Producer

Over the last decade, the United States has established itself as the world’s top producer of crude oil, surpassing Saudi Arabia and Russia.

This infographic illustrates the rise of the U.S. as the biggest oil producer, based on data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).

U.S. Takes Lead in 2018

Over the last three decades, the United States, Saudi Arabia, and Russia have alternated as the top crude producers, but always by small margins.

During the 1990s, Saudi Arabia dominated crude production, taking advantage of its extensive oil reserves. The petroleum sector accounts for roughly 42% of the country’s GDP, 87% of its budget revenues, and 90% of export earnings.

However, during the 2000s, Russia surpassed Saudi Arabia in production during some years, following strategic investments in expanding its oil infrastructure. The majority of Russia’s oil goes to OECD Europe (60%), with around 20% going to China.

Crude Oil Production United StatesSaudi ArabiaRussia
199211.93%13.97%12.74%
199311.50%13.68%11.35%
199410.96%13.32%10.50%
199510.60%13.17%9.96%
199610.21%12.87%9.49%
19979.84%12.73%9.29%
19989.39%12.58%9.05%
19999.06%11.99%9.33%
20008.67%12.33%9.64%
20018.65%11.89%10.45%
20028.63%11.49%11.53%
20038.05%12.92%12.10%
20047.46%12.74%12.67%
20057.00%13.21%12.82%
20066.85%13.00%12.90%
20076.84%12.38%13.29%
20086.71%12.44%12.56%
20097.32%11.28%12.98%
20107.37%11.31%13.03%
20117.55%12.81%13.02%
20128.50%13.04%12.94%
20139.76%12.86%13.10%
201411.18%12.60%12.86%
201511.67%12.77%12.66%
201610.92%13.12%13.02%
201711.53%12.68%13.05%
201813.21%12.77%12.96%
201914.90%12.15%13.20%
202014.87%12.37%12.97%
202114.59%12.06%13.10%
202214.73%13.17%12.76%

Over the 2010s, the U.S. witnessed an increase in domestic production, much of it attributable to hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” in the shale formations ranging from Texas to North Dakota. It became the world’s largest oil producer in 2018, outproducing Russia and Saudi Arabia.

The U.S. accounted for 14.7% of crude oil production worldwide in 2022, compared to 13.1% for Saudi Arabia and 12.7% for Russia.

Despite leading petroleum production, the U.S. still trails seven countries in remaining proven reserves underground, with 55,251 million barrels.

Venezuela has the biggest reserves with 303,221 million barrels. Saudi Arabia, with 267,192 million barrels, occupies the second spot, while Russia is seventh with 80,000 million barrels.

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