According to newly available data, the countries listed below generated in 2021/2022, more than 99.7% of their electricity from hydro, geothermal, wind or solar power:
- Democratic Republic of Congo
Figures from the International Energy Agency (IEA) and International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) also show that another 47 countries generated at least 50% of their electricity from renewables in 2021/2022, among which are 11 European countries.
The data was published by a Stanford University professor of civil and environmental engineering, Mark Zachary Jacobson.
Professor Jacobson also says other countries like Germany are actually capable of running 100% renewable-generated electricity for short periods of time.
47 countries are now generating above 50% of their electricity from renewable energy:
There has been significant progress in recent years with improving efficiency rates for solar cells, primarily boosted by perovskite, the so-called ‘miracle material’.
Commercial costs have also fallen, which led scientists at the University of Exeter and University College London to claim in 2023 that solar energy has reached an “irreversible tipping point” that will see it become the world’s main energy source by year 2050.
Their paper, published in the journal Nature Communications, found that technological and economic advances meant the transition to clean energy is not just reachable, but inevitable.
“Solar energy is the most widely available energy resource on Earth, and its economic attractiveness is improving fast in a cycle of increasing investments.”
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