Energy
Mapped: Average Wind Speed Across the U.S.
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Mapped: Average Wind Speed Across the U.S.
Wind energy is a hot topic in North America and around the world as a decarbonization tool, but full utilization requires a lot of wind.
This graphic from the team at the Woodwell Climate Research Center maps the average wind speed of the continental U.S. based on NOAA data from 2021.
Zooming in, you can examine North America’s wind regions and patterns in great detail. Clearly visible is the concentration of high wind speeds in the Great Plains (known as the Prairies in Canada), which has the greatest potential for wind power. You can also follow westerly winds traveling through the North American Cordillera of mountains, including the Rocky Mountains and Cascades.
Meanwhile, the Eastern U.S. and Canada have significantly lower average wind speeds, especially in the American South. That’s despite hurricanes with extremely high winds occasionally moving northward along the Eastern Seaboard towards the North Atlantic.
This article was published as a part of Visual Capitalist's Creator Program, which features data-driven visuals from some of our favorite Creators around the world.
Green
Mapped: Global Hydrogen Production by Region
We map global hydrogren by region, and also break production down into blue vs. green hydrogen types.
Blue and Green Hydrogen Production by Region in 2023
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.
Hydrogen production is becoming increasingly important for decarbonization efforts as it offers a clean and versatile alternative to fossil fuels, helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
In this visualization, we map the total kilotons of hydrogen produced by each region in 2023, broken down by blue and green hydrogen.
Hydrogen production data comes from Energy Institute’s 2024 Statistical Review of World Energy report.
Blue and Green Hydrogen Explained
Hydrogen doesn’t exist freely in nature and must be produced from other energy sources, making it an energy carrier rather than an energy source.
As a clean-burning fuel, hydrogen generates heat and electricity when combined with oxygen in a fuel cell, producing only water vapor as a by-product.
Blue hydrogen production involves generating hydrogen from natural gas and steam, with carbon capture technology used to capture the resulting carbon emissions.
Green hydrogen production uses renewable energy to power electrolysis, a process that splits water into hydrogen and oxygen, resulting in no carbon emissions.
Along with blue and green hydrogen, there are a few other “colors” of hydrogen that denote differences in their production processes and energy sources.
Blue Hydrogen Dominates Global Production
Blue hydrogen production is currently much more prevalent than green hydrogen because it leverages existing natural gas infrastructure, making it easier and more cost-effective to produce compared to green hydrogen.
As a result, the world produced significantly more blue hydrogen than green hydrogen in 2023, with 4,687.3 kilotons of blue hydrogen produced and only 147.6 kilotons of green hydrogen produced.
| Region | Blue hydrogen production in 2023 (kilotons) | Green hydrogen production in 2023 (kilotons) | Total hydrogen production in 2023 (kilotons) |
|---|---|---|---|
| North America | 2,091.6 | 19.4 | 2,111.0 |
| South and Central America | 0 | 1.1 | 1.1 |
| Europe | 44.1 | 31.6 | 75.8 |
| Middle East | 621.9 | 0.1 | 622.0 |
| Africa | - | 1.7 | 1.7 |
| Asia Pacific | 1,929.7 | 93.6 | 2,023.3 |
| World Totals | 4,687.3 | 147.6 | 4,834.9 |
Green hydrogen is expensive primarily due to the high costs of renewable energy needed for electrolysis and the current inefficiencies in the technology. Additionally, the electrolysis process itself is energy-intensive, contributing to overall costs.
North America and the Asia Pacific regions are neck and neck when it comes to blue hydrogen production, both producing around 2,000 kilotons as of 2023. However, Asia Pacific is ahead in the green hydrogen race with 93.6 kilotons, far more than any other region.
China is scaling up green hydrogen production significantly. Sinopec, a Chinese oil and gas company, has made multiple billion-dollar investments into green hydrogen projects in Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang.
In 2024, Japan-based Mitsubishi Corporation announced plans to invest $690 million in partnership with Dutch renewable energy company Eneco to develop the Eneco Electrolyzer, the world’s largest green hydrogen production plant in the Netherlands.
Learn More on the Voronoi App 
To learn more about regional energy production over time, check out this graphic that shows the growth of renewable energy capacity over time by region.
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