Ranked: The Countries with the Most Sustainable Energy Policies
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Ranked: Countries with the Most Sustainable Energy Policies

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Countries with the Most Sustainable Energy Policies

Ranked: Countries With Most Sustainable Energy Policies

The sourcing and distribution of energy is one of the most pressing issues of our time.

Just under one billion people still lack basic access to electricity, and many more connect to the grid through improvised wiring or live through frequent blackouts. On the flip side of the socioeconomic spectrum, a growing chorus of voices is pressuring governments and corporations to power the global economy in a more sustainable way.

Today’s visualization โ€“ using data from the World Energy Council (WEC) โ€“ ranks countries based on their mix of policies for tackling issues like energy security and environmental sustainability.

The Energy Trilemma Index

According to WEC, there are three primary policy areas that form the “trilemma”:

1. Energy Security
A nationโ€™s capacity to meet current and future energy demand reliably, and bounce back swiftly from system shocks with minimal disruption to supply. This dimension covers the effectiveness of management of domestic and external energy sources, as well as the reliability and resilience of energy infrastructure.

2. Energy Equity
A countryโ€™s ability to provide universal access to reliable, affordable, and abundant energy for domestic and commercial use. This dimension captures basic access to electricity and clean cooking fuels and technologies, access to prosperity-enabling levels of energy consumption, and affordability of electricity, gas, and fuel.

3. Environmental Sustainability
The transition of a countryโ€™s energy system towards mitigating and avoiding environmental harm and climate change impacts. This dimension focuses on productivity and efficiency of generation, transmission and distribution, decarbonization, and air quality.

Using the dimensions above, a score out of 100 is generated. Here’s a complete ranking that shows which countries have the most sustainable energy policies:

RankCountryTrilemma ScoreLetter Grade*
1๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ญ Switzerland85.8AAA
2๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ช Sweden85.2AAA
3๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ฐ Denmark84.7AAA
4๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง United Kingdom81.5AAA
5๐Ÿ‡ซ๐Ÿ‡ฎ Finland81.1AAA
6๐Ÿ‡ซ๐Ÿ‡ท France80.8AAA
7๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡น Austria80.7AAA
8๐Ÿ‡ฑ๐Ÿ‡บ Luxembourg80.4BAA
9๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ช Germany79.4AAA
10๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ฟ New Zealand79.4AAA
11๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ด Norway79.3CAA
12๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ฎ Slovenia79.2AAA
13๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Canada78.0AAC
14๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ฑ Netherlands77.8BAB
15๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ United States77.5AAB
16๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฟ Czech Republic77.4AAB
17๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡พ Uruguay77.2ABA
18๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ธ Spain77.0BAA
19๐Ÿ‡ญ๐Ÿ‡บ Hungary76.8AAB
20๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡น Italy76.8BAA
21๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ธ Iceland76.2BAB
22๐Ÿ‡ฑ๐Ÿ‡ป Latvia76.1ABA
23๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ฐ Slovakia75.6ABA
24๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ช Belgium75.2BAA
25๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ช Ireland75.2CAA
26๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡ด Romania75.1ABA
27๐Ÿ‡ญ๐Ÿ‡ท Croatia74.9ABA
28๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡บ Australia74.7BAB
29๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡น Portugal74.0BBB
30๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ช Estonia73.8BAB
31๐Ÿ‡ฏ๐Ÿ‡ต Japan73.8CAB
32๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ฑ Israel73.3CAB
33๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡น Malta72.9DAA
34๐Ÿ‡ญ๐Ÿ‡ฐ Hong Kong (China)72.5DAB
35๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡ท Argentina72.4BAB
36๐Ÿ‡ฑ๐Ÿ‡น Lithuania72.4CBA
37๐Ÿ‡ฐ๐Ÿ‡ท South Korea71.7BAC
38๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ท Costa Rica71.6CBA
39๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ท Brazil71.6ABA
40๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฝ Mexico71.3ABB
41๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ฌ Bulgaria71.3BBB
42๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡บ Russia71.2AAC
43๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ฌ Singapore71.2DAB
44๐Ÿ‡ป๐Ÿ‡ช Venezuela70.3ABB
45๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡จ Ecuador69.6ABB
46๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡ฆ Panama69.5CBA
47๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ท Greece69.5CBA
48๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฑ Chile69.4BBB
49๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ด Colombia69.3BCA
50๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡บ Mauritius69.0CBB
51๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡พ Malaysia68.5BBC
52๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡ช U.A.E.68.3BAD
53๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡ฑ Poland68.3BBB
54๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡พ Cyprus67.9DBB
55๐Ÿ‡ถ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Qatar67.9AAD
56๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ณ Brunei67.7CBC
57๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡ฟ Azerbaijan67.7BBB
58๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡ช Peru66.8ACB
59๐Ÿ‡ฐ๐Ÿ‡ฟ Kazakhstan66.6BBC
60๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡ฒ Armenia66.3CBB
61๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Ukraine66.0ACC
62๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ป El Salvador66.0BCA
63๐Ÿ‡ด๐Ÿ‡ฒ Oman65.5BAD
64๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ช Montenegro65.4CBB
65๐Ÿ‡ฐ๐Ÿ‡ผ Kuwait65.2CAD
66๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ท Turkey64.9CBC
67๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡พ Paraguay64.7DBA
68๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ญ Thailand64.6CBC
69๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ฉ Indonesia64.1BCC
70๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡ธ Serbia63.8BBC
71๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฐ North Macedonia63.7CBC
72๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ณ China63.7BBD
73๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡ฑ Albania63.7DBA
74๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ท Iran63.6ABD
75๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ณ Tunisia63.6BBC
76๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡น Trinidad and Tobago63.3CAD
77๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ช Georgia63.1CBC
78๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Saudi Arabia62.8CAD
79๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ฆ Bosnia and Herz.62.1BBC
80๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ญ Bahrain62.1BAD
81๐Ÿ‡ฑ๐Ÿ‡ง Lebanon61.6DAC
82๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ฟ Algeria61.3CBD
83๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Morocco61.1CCC
84๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ด Bolivia60.4BCC
85๐Ÿ‡ฑ๐Ÿ‡ฐ Sri Lanka60.1BCB
86๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡ด Angola60.0ADB
87๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ฌ Egypt59.9BBD
88๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡น Guatemala59.7BCC
89๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Gabon59.5CBD
90๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Namibia59.1CDA
91๐Ÿ‡ป๐Ÿ‡ณ Vietnam58.9ACD
92๐Ÿ‡ฟ๐Ÿ‡ฆ South Africa58.9DBD
93๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ถ Iraq58.9BBD
94๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡ญ Philippines58.6BCC
95๐Ÿ‡ฏ๐Ÿ‡ด Jordan58.5DBC
96๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ผ Botswana57.7DCC
97๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ด Dominican Republic57.6DBB
98๐Ÿ‡ฏ๐Ÿ‡ฒ Jamaica56.9DBC
99๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ฏ Tajikistan55.7DCC
100๐Ÿ‡ญ๐Ÿ‡ณ Honduras55.3DCC
101๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ฟ Eswatini55.1DCC
102๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ฎ Nicaragua54.5DCC
103๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ญ Ghana52.9CDC
104๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฒ Myanmar51.9BDB
105๐Ÿ‡ฐ๐Ÿ‡ญ Cambodia51.6CDC
106๐Ÿ‡ฐ๐Ÿ‡ช Kenya51.3BDB
107๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฉ Moldova51.2DCD
108๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ณ Mongolia51.1DCD
109๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณ India50.3BDD
110๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡ฐ Pakistan49.6CDD
111๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฎ Cรดte dโ€™Ivoire49.3BDC
112๐Ÿ‡ฟ๐Ÿ‡ฒ Zambia47.8CDB
113๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฒ Cameroon47.4BDD
114๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ฉ Bangladesh47.1DDC
115๐Ÿ‡ฟ๐Ÿ‡ผ Zimbabwe46.0CDC
116๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ท Mauritania45.6BDD
117๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ต Nepal44.3DDC
118๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ณ Senegal43.4DDD
119๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ฟ Tanzania42.5DDC
120๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡น Ethiopia42.3DDC
121๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฌ Madagascar42.2CDC
122๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฟ Mozambique41.4DDC
123๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ฌ Nigeria40.7BDD
124๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ผ Malawi39.1DDB
125๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ฏ Benin36.3DDD
126๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ฉ Chad33.8DDD
127๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฉ D.R.C.33.8DDC
128๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ช Niger30.0DDD

*The letter grade represents national performance in three dimensions. The first letter represents Security, the second letter represents Equity, the third letter represents the Environmental Sustainability. The top grade is AAA, the lowest is DDD.

Highs, Lows, and Outliers

Every country has unique circumstances โ€” from strategic energy reserves to green energy ambitions โ€” that shape their domestic energy policies. Let’s take a closer look at some of the more interesting situations around the world.

Sweden

sweden energy trilemma index

Qatar

qatar energy trilemma index

Singapore

singapore energy trilemma index

Dominican Republic

dominican republic energy trilemma index

Niger

niger energy trilemma index

Global Energy Outlook

Achieving the balance of prosperity and sustainability is a goal of nearly every country, but it takes stability and the right mix of policies to get the job done.

The fact that many trilemma scores are improving is an indicator that the world’s patchwork of energy policies are slowly moving in the right direction.

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Energy

Visualizing the Scale of Global Fossil Fuel Production

How much oil, coal, and natural gas do we extract each year? See the scale of annual fossil fuel production in perspective.

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The Scale of Global Fossil Fuel Production

This was originally posted on Elements. Sign up to the free mailing list to get beautiful visualizations on natural resource megatrends in your email every week.

Fossil fuels have been our predominant source of energy for over a century, and the world still extracts and consumes a colossal amount of coal, oil, and gas every year.

This infographic visualizes the volume of global fossil fuel production in 2021 using data from BPโ€™s Statistical Review of World Energy.

The Facts on Fossil Fuels

In 2021, the world produced around 8 billion tonnes of coal, 4 billion tonnes of oil, and over 4 trillion cubic meters of natural gas.

Most of the coal is used to generate electricity for our homes and offices and has a key role in steel production. Similarly, natural gas is a large source of electricity and heat for industries and buildings. Oil is primarily used by the transportation sector, in addition to petrochemical manufacturing, heating, and other end uses.

Hereโ€™s a full breakdown of coal, oil, and gas production by country in 2021.

Coal Production

If all the coal produced in 2021 were arranged in a cube, it would measure 2,141 meters (2.1km) on each sideโ€”more than 2.5 times the height of the worldโ€™s tallest building.

China produced 50% or more than four billion tonnes of the worldโ€™s coal in 2021. Itโ€™s also the largest consumer of coal, accounting for 54% of coal consumption in 2021.

Rank Country2021 Coal Production
(million tonnes)
% of Total
#1๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ณ China 4,126.050%
#2๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณ India 811.310%
#3๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ฉ Indonesia 614.08%
#4๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ U.S. 524.46%
#5๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡บ Australia 478.66%
#6๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡บ Russia 433.75%
#7๐Ÿ‡ฟ๐Ÿ‡ฆ South Africa 234.53%
#8๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ช Germany 126.02%
#9๐Ÿ‡ฐ๐Ÿ‡ฟ Kazakhstan 115.71%
#10๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡ฑ Poland 107.61%
๐ŸŒ Other 600.97%
Total8,172.6100%

India is both the second largest producer and consumer of coal. Meanwhile, Indonesia is the worldโ€™s largest coal exporter, followed by Australia.

In the West, U.S. coal production was down 47% as compared to 2011 levels, and the descent is likely to continue with the clean energy transition.

Oil Production

In 2021, the United States, Russia, and Saudi Arabia were the three largest crude oil producers, respectively.

Rank Country2021 Oil Production
(million tonnes)
% of Total
#1๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ U.S. 711.117%
#2๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡บ Russia 536.413%
#3๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Saudi Arabia 515.012%
#4๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Canada 267.16%
#5๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ถ Iraq 200.85%
#6๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ณ China 198.95%
#7๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ท Iran 167.74%
#8๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡ช UAE 164.44%
#9 ๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ท Brazil156.84%
#10๐Ÿ‡ฐ๐Ÿ‡ผ Kuwait 131.13%
๐ŸŒ Other 1172.028%
Total4221.4100%

OPEC countries, including Saudi Arabia, made up the largest share of production at 35% or 1.5 billion tonnes of oil.

U.S. oil production has seen significant growth since 2010. In 2021, the U.S. extracted 711 million tonnes of oil, more than double the 333 million tonnes produced in 2010.

Natural Gas Production

The world produced 4,036 billion cubic meters of natural gas in 2021. The above graphic converts that into an equivalent of seven billion cubic meters of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to visualize it on the same scale as oil and gas.

Here are the top 10 producers of natural gas in 2021:

Rank Country2021 Natural Gas Production
(billion m3)
% of Total
#1๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ U.S. 934.223%
#2๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡บ Russia 701.717%
#3๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ท Iran 256.76%
#4๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ณ China 209.25%
#5๐Ÿ‡ถ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Qatar 177.04%
#6๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Canada 172.34%
#7๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡บ Australia 147.24%
#8๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Saudi Arabia 117.33%
#9๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ด Norway 114.33%
#10๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ฟ Algeria 100.82%
๐ŸŒ Other 1106.327%
Total4,036.9100%

The U.S. was the largest producer, with Texas and Pennsylvania accounting for 47% of its gas production. The U.S. electric power and industrial sectors account for around one-third of domestic natural gas consumption.

Russia, the next-largest producer, was the biggest exporter of gas in 2021. It exported an estimated 210 billion cubic meters of natural gas via pipelines to Europe and China. Around 80% of Russian natural gas comes from operations in the Arctic region.

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