One anti-renewable talking point often heard is that it is impossible to run an electricity system with 100% renewable.
One way (actually the only way) to prove that wrong is to point to an example where exactly that has been done.
The following list of countries getting 60% or more of their electricity from renewable energy was compiled from data at the excellent CO2scorecard site, which is mostly from 2008. With some substantial investment in renewable energy in the years since, if anything, those percentages should have gone up, if they were not at 100 percent in the first place. I have looked at most of the countries listed there (except some very small ones). Countries getting 100 percent or close (over 95%) are in bold.
Especially the case of Paraguay is noteworthy. It doesn’t only get 100% of its own electricity from hydro, but actually exports 90 percent of its production, so in relation to consumption of electricity it produces actually about 1,000 percent renewable. I think this is a world record.
I also noted in the process that one country has even more nuclear share than France, though I won’t mention the name here. A list of countries with more than 60 percent nuclear would be very short. None have over 90 percent.
Albania (100% hydro in 2008).
Angola (96.45% hydro in 2008)
Austria (73.86% renewable in 2009, 12.5% of that non hydro)
Belize (90.91% hydro in 2008) Update: REEGLE says only about 80%.
Bhutan (99.86% hydro in 2008)
Brazil (88.88% renewable with 4.93 non hydro in 2009)
Burundi (100% hydro in 2008)
Cameroon (77.31% hydro in 2008)
Canada (61.95% renewable, with 1.86% non hydro in 2009)
Central African Republic (81.25% renewable in 2008)
Columbia (85.67% hydro in 2008)
Congo (82.22% renewable in 2008)
Costa Rica (93.11% renewable in 2008)
DPR Korea (61.86% hydro in 2008)
DR Congo (99.46% hydro in 2008)
Ecuador (64.12% renewable in 2008, with 2.21% non hydro)
El Salvador (62.24% renewable in 2008, with 26.92 non hydro)
Ethiopia (88.17% renewable in 2008, with 0.27% non hydro)
Fiji (68.04% renewable in 2008)
Georgia (85.52% hydro in 2008)
Ghana (75.03% hydro in 2008)
Guatemala (61.31% renewable, with 17.5 non hydro in 2008)
Iceland (100% renewable, with 26.27% geothermal in 2009).
Kenya (62.59% renewable, with 21.06% non hydro in 2008)
Kyrgyzstan (90.85% hydro in 2008)
Lao PDR (92.46% hydro in 2008)
Latvia (62.23% renewable with 1.96% non hydro in 2008)
Lesotho (100% hydro in 2008)
Madagascar (66.67% hydro in 2008)
Malawi (86.31% hydro in 2008)
Mozambique (99.87% hydro in 2008)
Myanmar (62.05% hydro in 2008)
Namibia (70.91% hydro in 2008)
Nepal (99.67% hydro in 2008)
New Zealand (72.52% renewable, including 15.42% non hydro in 2009)
Norway (97.11% renewable, including 0.93% non hydro in 2009)
Paraguay (100.00% hydro in 2008), exporting 90% of generated electricity (54.91 TWh in 2008)
Peru (60.53% renewable, including 1.47% non hydro in 2008)
Sweden (60.42% renewable, including 10.58% non hydro in 2009)
Tajikistan (98.25% hydro in 2008)
Tanzania (61.45% hydro in 2008)
Uganda (74.77% hydro in 2008)
Uruguay (61.98% renewable, with 9.33 non hydro in 2008)
Venezuela (69.57% hydro in 2008)
Zambia (99.69% hydro in 2008)
Update: Some comments at this Cleantechnica post have kindly noted this list.
Update April 2013: Portugal joins the list for the first quarter of 2013, with 70% renewable, 27% of which came from wind.
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[...] list of 45 countries that already get 60% or more of their electricity from renewable energy. The compilation was put together by Dr. Karl-Friedrich Lenz, using data from the CO2scorecard site. Here’s the full list (countries in bold get 95% or more [...]
[...] list of 45 countries that already get 60% or more of their electricity from renewable energy. The compilation was put together by Dr. Karl-Friedrich Lenz, using data from the CO2scorecard site. Here’s the full list (countries in bold get 95% or more [...]
Belize (90.91% hydro in 2008) ? Something doesn’t sit right with that. You can check out more info about Belize if you visit where-is-belize.com
My source is this page at CO2 scorecard:
http://www.co2scorecard.org/countrydata/Index/4136
I just checked, and yes, they say 90.91% total renewable, 0 of which come from non-hydro.
They may be wrong, however. This article says only “close to half” hydro:
http://cipore.org/a-snapshot-at-belize%E2%80%99s-renewable-potential/
And REEGLE has around 160 GWh hydro to around 40 GWh thermal, which would be only about 80%.
http://www.reegle.info/countries/belize-energy-profile/BZ
I think REEGLE is the most trustworthy of these sources and have adjusted the value for Belize accordingly. Thanks for your comment.
[...] Actually, there is quite an impressive list of countries who get over 60 percent. [...]
[...] is the newest country to make the list of over 60% renewable electricity. According to this report by the network operator REN, they got 70% in quarter one of this year. [...]
would be nice to know how many people live in these countries. how much of the world populations lives in renuwable countries…
nice list and keep it up to date!!
thanks!
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[...] reached 97%, boht helped by their hydro resources. Globally, a large number of countries get over 60% of their electricity from renewable sources, which range from New Zealand to Canada. What this data shows is that the [...]