OECD members - Electricity production from coal sources (% of total)

Electricity production from coal sources (% of total) in OECD members was 29.44 as of 2015. Its highest value over the past 55 years was 47.22 in 1963, while its lowest value was 29.44 in 2015.

Definition: Sources of electricity refer to the inputs used to generate electricity. Coal refers to all coal and brown coal, both primary (including hard coal and lignite-brown coal) and derived fuels (including patent fuel, coke oven coke, gas coke, coke oven gas, and blast furnace gas). Peat is also included in this category.

Source: IEA Statistics © OECD/IEA 2014 (http://www.iea.org/stats/index.asp), subject to https://www.iea.org/t&c/termsandconditions/

See also:

Year Value
1960 46.55
1961 46.36
1962 47.07
1963 47.22
1964 46.75
1965 46.22
1966 45.15
1967 44.88
1968 44.36
1969 42.10
1970 39.83
1971 39.08
1972 37.29
1973 37.52
1974 35.90
1975 36.19
1976 37.84
1977 37.59
1978 36.54
1979 38.01
1980 40.44
1981 40.89
1982 41.77
1983 42.29
1984 41.65
1985 42.35
1986 41.74
1987 41.93
1988 41.60
1989 40.59
1990 39.76
1991 39.31
1992 39.04
1993 38.73
1994 38.22
1995 37.76
1996 38.30
1997 38.33
1998 38.27
1999 37.63
2000 38.45
2001 37.87
2002 37.67
2003 38.28
2004 37.33
2005 37.25
2006 36.89
2007 36.61
2008 35.80
2009 34.10
2010 33.93
2011 33.02
2012 31.83
2013 32.26
2014 31.79
2015 29.44

Development Relevance: Since the beginning of the 21st century, coal has been the fastest-growing global energy source; it currently provides about 40 percent of the world's electricity needs. Coal is the second source of primary energy in the world after oil, and the first source of electricity generation.. The last decade's growth in coal use has been driven by the economic growth of developing economies, mainly China. Irrespective of its economic benefits for the countries, the environmental impact of coal use, especially that coming from carbon dioxide emissions, is significant, and efforts are underway globally to build more efficient plants, to retrofit old plants and to decommission the oldest and least efficient coal plants. Use of energy is important in improving people's standard of living. But electricity generation also can damage the environment. Whether such damage occurs depends largely on how electricity is generated. For example, burning coal releases twice as much carbon dioxide - a major contributor to global warming - as does burning an equivalent amount of natural gas. Anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions result primarily from fossil fuel combustion and cement manufacturing. In combustion different fossil fuels release different amounts of carbon dioxide for the same level of energy use: oil releases about 50 percent more carbon dioxide than natural gas, and coal releases about twice as much. Nuclear energy does not generate carbon dioxide emissions, but it produces other dangerous waste products.

Limitations and Exceptions: IEA occasionally revises its time series to reflect political changes. For example, the IEA has constructed historical energy statistics for countries of the former Soviet Union. In addition, energy statistics for other countries have undergone continuous changes in coverage or methodology in recent years as more detailed energy accounts have become available. Breaks in series are therefore unavoidable.

Statistical Concept and Methodology: Electricity production is total number of kWh generated by power plants separated into electricity plants and CHP plants. The International Energy Agency (IEA) compiles data on energy inputs used to generate electricity. IEA data for countries that are not members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) are based on national energy data adjusted to conform to annual questionnaires completed by OECD member governments. In addition, estimates are sometimes made to complete major aggregates from which key data are missing, and adjustments are made to compensate for differences in definitions. The IEA makes these estimates in consultation with national statistical offices, oil companies, electric utilities, and national energy experts.

Aggregation method: Weighted average

Periodicity: Annual

General Comments: Electricity production shares may not sum to 100 percent because other sources of generated electricity (such as geothermal, solar, and wind) are not shown. Restricted use: Please contact the International Energy Agency for third-party use of these data.

Classification

Topic: Environment Indicators

Sub-Topic: Energy production & use