Energy
Ranked: The 50 Companies That Use the Highest Percentage of Green Energy
Which Companies Use the Most Green Energy?
Green energy was once a niche segment of the wider energy industry, but it’s quickly becoming an essential energy source in many regions and nations across the globe.
Based on data from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), this infographic by SolarPower.Guide shows the top 50 greenest companies, based on the highest proportion of green energy used in their overall consumption mix.
Leaders in Green Energy Use
As green energy becomes more affordable, some major businesses like Google, Wells Fargo, and Apple are embracing it in a big way.
It also helps that institutional investors are nudging companies in that direction anyways, especially as they become more focused on incorporating environment, social and governance (ESG) into their portfolios.
Here are the top 15 U.S. companies that use the highest percentage of green energy:
Rank | Company | Green Power use | Annual Green Power Use (kWh) |
---|---|---|---|
#1 | The Estee Lauder Companies Inc. | 139% | 91,843,084 |
#2 | Voya Financial | 120% | 40,000,000 |
#3 | BNY Mellon | 113% | 268,000,000 |
#4 | Sephora | 112% | 112,323,000 |
#5 | Bank of America | 109% | 1,855,505,589 |
#6 | Church & Dwight Co. | 107% | 159,445,000 |
#7 | Google LLC | 106% | 7,492,567,647 |
#8 | The Hartford Financial Services Group | 106% | 68,835,000 |
#9 | Wells Fargo | 105% | 1,843,545,975 |
#10 | Equinix | 104% | 2,360,296,352 |
#11 | State Street Corp. | 104% | 158,991,503 |
#12 | Aldi | 103% | 984,430,521 |
#13 | Apple Inc. | 101% | 2,202,581,271 |
#14 | Starbucks | 101% | 1,119,392,000 |
#15 | TD Bank | 101% | 210,209,954 |
Note: The values reflect the amount of green power as a percentage of a company’s total electricity use. Companies that purchase green power exceeding their total organization-wide electricity use will show a value greater than 100%.
Green Energy vs. Renewable Energy
The term “green energy” is often met with confusion by some and is sometimes just referred to as “renewables” by others. So, what is green energy, and how is it different from other sources of renewable energy?
Green energy is a subset of renewable energy and represents those energy sources and technologies that provide the highest environmental benefit. The EPA defines green power as electricity produced from solar, wind, geothermal, biogas, eligible biomass, and low-impact small hydroelectric sources.
Other renewable types of energy exist, but may not be considered fully green, at least as the EPA defines it. For example, while massive hydro projects provide a renewable source of energy, they can also have big impact on the environment. Same goes for non-eligible biomassโa category which includes biomass that may not be close to carbon-neutral.
Climate Commitments
In addition to the use of green power for operations, major companies are also looking at the bigger picture and setting targets to achieve carbon neutrality.
Here are a few of the major companies that have made climate commitments in the near future:
Company | Commitment | By Year |
---|---|---|
Apple | Net Zero Carbon Emission | 2030 |
Ikea | Climate Positive | 2030 |
Burger King | Net Zero Operations | 2030 |
Microsoft | Net Zero Carbon Emission | 2030 |
BBC | Net Zero Carbon Emission | 2030 |
Net Zero Value Chain | 2030 | |
Verizon | Net Zero Carbon Emission | 2035 |
Unilever | Net Zero Carbon Emission | 2039 |
Pepsi Co. | Net Zero Carbon Emission | 2040 |
BP | Net Zero Carbon Emission | 2050 |
This will undoubtedly impact their overall consumption and the energy mix in the years to come.
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.

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 BPโs 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.
Hereโs 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 sideโmore than 2.5 times the height of the worldโs tallest building.
China produced 50% or more than four billion tonnes of the worldโs coal in 2021. Itโs also the largest consumer of coal, accounting for 54% of coal consumption in 2021.
Rank | Country | 2021 Coal Production (million tonnes) | % of Total |
---|---|---|---|
#1 | ๐จ๐ณ China | 4,126.0 | 50% |
#2 | ๐ฎ๐ณ India | 811.3 | 10% |
#3 | ๐ฎ๐ฉ Indonesia | 614.0 | 8% |
#4 | ๐บ๐ธ U.S. | 524.4 | 6% |
#5 | ๐ฆ๐บ Australia | 478.6 | 6% |
#6 | ๐ท๐บ Russia | 433.7 | 5% |
#7 | ๐ฟ๐ฆ South Africa | 234.5 | 3% |
#8 | ๐ฉ๐ช Germany | 126.0 | 2% |
#9 | ๐ฐ๐ฟ Kazakhstan | 115.7 | 1% |
#10 | ๐ต๐ฑ Poland | 107.6 | 1% |
๐ Other | 600.9 | 7% | |
Total | 8,172.6 | 100% |
India is both the second largest producer and consumer of coal. Meanwhile, Indonesia is the worldโs 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 | Country | 2021 Oil Production (million tonnes) | % of Total |
---|---|---|---|
#1 | ๐บ๐ธ U.S. | 711.1 | 17% |
#2 | ๐ท๐บ Russia | 536.4 | 13% |
#3 | ๐ธ๐ฆ Saudi Arabia | 515.0 | 12% |
#4 | ๐จ๐ฆ Canada | 267.1 | 6% |
#5 | ๐ฎ๐ถ Iraq | 200.8 | 5% |
#6 | ๐จ๐ณ China | 198.9 | 5% |
#7 | ๐ฎ๐ท Iran | 167.7 | 4% |
#8 | ๐ฆ๐ช UAE | 164.4 | 4% |
#9 | ๐ง๐ท Brazil | 156.8 | 4% |
#10 | ๐ฐ๐ผ Kuwait | 131.1 | 3% |
๐ Other | 1172.0 | 28% | |
Total | 4221.4 | 100% |
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 | Country | 2021 Natural Gas Production (billion m3) | % of Total |
---|---|---|---|
#1 | ๐บ๐ธ U.S. | 934.2 | 23% |
#2 | ๐ท๐บ Russia | 701.7 | 17% |
#3 | ๐ฎ๐ท Iran | 256.7 | 6% |
#4 | ๐จ๐ณ China | 209.2 | 5% |
#5 | ๐ถ๐ฆ Qatar | 177.0 | 4% |
#6 | ๐จ๐ฆ Canada | 172.3 | 4% |
#7 | ๐ฆ๐บ Australia | 147.2 | 4% |
#8 | ๐ธ๐ฆ Saudi Arabia | 117.3 | 3% |
#9 | ๐ณ๐ด Norway | 114.3 | 3% |
#10 | ๐ฉ๐ฟ Algeria | 100.8 | 2% |
๐ Other | 1106.3 | 27% | |
Total | 4,036.9 | 100% |
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.
-
Misc4 days ago
Visualizing the Odds of Dying from Various Accidents
-
Energy2 weeks ago
The Periodic Table of Commodity Returns (2013-2022)
-
Technology2 days ago
Infographic: 11 Tech Trends to Watch in 2023
-
Misc4 weeks ago
Infographic: The Longest Lasting Cars, in Miles
-
Politics2 weeks ago
Which Countries are the Most Polarized?
-
Energy12 hours ago
Visualizing the Scale of Global Fossil Fuel Production
-
Markets4 weeks ago
The U.S. Stock Market: Best and Worst Performing Sectors in 2022
-
Energy2 weeks ago
Visualizing Chinaโs Dominance in Battery Manufacturing (2022-2027P)