| 1 | Consumption |
In 2010, the United States and China were the most prominent energy users in the world. Like many developed nations, the United States has had high but relatively stable rates of energy consumption for the last 30 years. (Click on a country to see a historical perspective, in five-year intervals from 1980 to 2010.) In contrast, many developing or emerging nations have relatively low consumption rates but, like China, are rapidly increasing their use. All numbers are given in billions of kilowatts.
| 2 | Renewable electricity production |
Renewable energy comes from many sources, including wind, solar, geothermal and hydroelectric. Developed nations tend to generate more of their electricity from renewables, as seen in this map of data from 2010. Although trends vary considerably from country to country, rates are generally on the increase, as shown in the popups. (Click on a country to see how the fraction of energy gained from renewable sources has changed over time. Note that scales vary considerably in the popup graphs.)
| 3 | Renewable electricity in depth |
The proportion of electricity production from renewable sources varies widely from nation to nation. Sometimes this has to do with availability of renewable sources; Iceland, for instance, has abundant access to geothermal energy due to its unusual geology.
