Energy
What Are the Five Major Types of Renewable Energy?
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The Renewable Energy Age
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Awareness around climate change is shaping the future of the global economy in several ways.
Governments are planning how to reduce emissions, investors are scrutinizing companiesโ environmental performance, and consumers are becoming conscious of their carbon footprints. But no matter the stakeholder, energy generation and consumption from fossil fuels is one of the biggest contributors to emissions.
Therefore, renewable energy sources have never been more top-of-mind than they are today.
The Five Types of Renewable Energy
Renewable energy technologies harness the power of the sun, wind, and heat from the Earthโs core, and then transforms it into usable forms of energy like heat, electricity, and fuel.
The above infographic uses data from Lazard, Ember, and other sources to outline everything you need to know about the five key types of renewable energy:
Energy Source | % of 2021 Global Electricity Generation | Avg. levelized cost of energy per MWh |
---|---|---|
Hydro ๐ง | 15.3% | $64 |
Wind ๐ฌ | 6.6% | $38 |
Solar โ๏ธ | 3.7% | $36 |
Biomass ๐ฑ | 2.3% | $114 |
Geothermal โจ๏ธ | <1% | $75 |
Editor’s note: We have excluded nuclear from the mix here, because although it is often defined as a sustainable energy source, it is not technically renewable (i.e. there are finite amounts of uranium).
Though often out of the limelight, hydro is the largest renewable electricity source, followed by wind and then solar.
Together, the five main sources combined for roughly 28% of global electricity generation in 2021, with wind and solar collectively breaking the 10% share barrier for the first time.
The levelized cost of energy (LCOE) measures the lifetime costs of a new utility-scale plant divided by total electricity generation. The LCOE of solar and wind is almost one-fifth that of coal ($167/MWh), meaning that new solar and wind plants are now much cheaper to build and operate than new coal plants over a longer time horizon.
With this in mind, hereโs a closer look at the five types of renewable energy and how they work.
1. Wind
Wind turbines use large rotor blades, mounted at tall heights on both land and sea, to capture the kinetic energy created by wind.
When wind flows across the blade, the air pressure on one side of the blade decreases, pulling it down with a force described as the lift. The difference in air pressure across the two sides causes the blades to rotate, spinning the rotor.
The rotor is connected to a turbine generator, which spins to convert the windโs kinetic energy into electricity.
2. Solar (Photovoltaic)
Solar technologies capture light or electromagnetic radiation from the sun and convert it into electricity.
Photovoltaic (PV) solar cells contain a semiconductor wafer, positive on one side and negative on the other, forming an electric field. When light hits the cell, the semiconductor absorbs the sunlight and transfers the energy in the form of electrons. These electrons are captured by the electric field in the form of an electric current.
A solar systemโs ability to generate electricity depends on the semiconductor material, along with environmental conditions like heat, dirt, and shade.
3. Geothermal
Geothermal energy originates straight from the Earthโs coreโheat from the core boils underground reservoirs of water, known as geothermal resources.
Geothermal plants typically use wells to pump hot water from geothermal resources and convert it into steam for a turbine generator. The extracted water and steam can then be reinjected, making it a renewable energy source.
4. Hydropower
Similar to wind turbines, hydropower plants channel the kinetic energy from flowing water into electricity by using a turbine generator.
Hydro plants are typically situated near bodies of water and use diversion structures like dams to change the flow of water. Power generation depends on the volume and change in elevation or head of the flowing water.
Greater water volumes and higher heads produce more energy and electricity, and vice versa.
5. Biomass
Humans have likely used energy from biomass or bioenergy for heat ever since our ancestors learned how to build fires.
Biomassโorganic material like wood, dry leaves, and agricultural wasteโis typically burned but considered renewable because it can be regrown or replenished. Burning biomass in a boiler produces high-pressure steam, which rotates a turbine generator to produce electricity.
Biomass is also converted into liquid or gaseous fuels for transportation. However, emissions from biomass vary with the material combusted and are often higher than other clean sources.
When Will Renewable Energy Take Over?
Despite the recent growth of renewables, fossil fuels still dominate the global energy mix.
Most countries are in the early stages of the energy transition, and only a handful get significant portions of their electricity from clean sources. However, the ongoing decade might see even more growth than recent record-breaking years.
The IEA forecasts that, by 2026, global renewable electricity capacity is set to grow by 60% from 2020 levels to over 4,800 gigawattsโequal to the current power output of fossil fuels and nuclear combined. So, regardless of when renewables will take over, itโs clear that the global energy economy will continue changing.
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.
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