What Countries Are The Biggest Electricity Consumers

According to CIA statistics, the top countries that consume the most electricity are the United States, the European Union, China, Japan and Russia.

These five particular countries consume a combined total of 12 kWh of electricity every year.

All of these countries that have been listed are among the top 10 most developed nations in the world. Their societies use a mixture of energy sources to produce electricity.

The European Union is a confederation of various European countries such as England, France and Greece. Some of these nations only use one type of fuel source to produce electricity. Nations such as France use nuclear reactors to produce electricity and they don’t use any other kind of energy for this purpose.

The United States is a fairly large sized country in terms of population and size. The U.S. has about 5% of the world’s population but it uses 25% of the total electricity generated in the world on a daily basis. Coal is the primary energy source that is used for producing electricity within the U.S. Alternative energy such as solar and wind is also used to generate electricity for millions of homes and businesses. Nuclear power and hydro thermal alternative fuel sources are used as well. Hydroelectric power is the top alternative fuel source that America utilizes for electrical generation.

Since the European Union consists of 27 different countries, it is beyond the scope of this article to detail each European Union member and how much electricity that they consume. EU nations such as Sweden, Finland and Iceland lie near an active volcano range and they power their societies with the use of geothermal energy. England uses a combination of fuel sources to power its society. Gas, coal and nuclear generation are among the top energy sources that are used to power this nation. Germany uses coal to make electricity and they are increasing the use of wind and solar technologies for future electrical generation.

Energy Sources Used by Different Countries

In the year 2013, China was a developing country with a growing economy. China is the country with the world’s largest population. There are close to a billion people living within the borders of China and as these people became more prosperous, they started to consume more electricity. Most of China’s electricity is created through the use of coal. This nation had to start many new coal plants in order to keep up with the energy needs of its people. Electrical usage within this country has contributed to more greenhouse gases being released into the atmosphere.

Imported fossil fuels such oil and natural gas are used to manufacture electrical energy. Nuclear power is also prominent in Japan for supplying electricity to its citizens. Japan is a relatively small nation but it doubles its electrical consumption every 5 years. The nation of Russia mainly depends on hydro and geothermal power to produce its electricity. This nation generates most of its electricity from these two sources and less than 1% from fossil based fuels.

India is another nation that consumes a great deal of electricity. The country is still continuing to develop and its economic growth is going to make it one of the biggest energy consumers in the world. Developing infrastructure is making electricity more widespread for citizens, and the nation will continue to expand its grid system in the coming years. Fossil fuels are the energy sources that are primarily used to generate electricity for the people of India.

Australia’s society is dependent on coal for power. At least 75% of this country’s electricity is generated from coal. This fossil fuel source is relatively inexpensive within Australia, and natural gas is increasingly being relied upon for the purpose of generating electrical power.

Countries such as the U.S. use a lot of electricity because they typically have large population bases that consume a great deal of power. Other nations such as Iceland have smaller populations and more resources than people. People within these nations are encouraged to consume larger amounts of power because the government has excessive energy to spare.

Brazil and Mexico are two other nations that are among the top energy consumers in the world.

Nations where there are large populations with just enough resources to meet demand must be mindful about the amount of electricity that they consume. Nations such as these encourage citizens to be mindful of the amount of power that they consume in order to keep fuel supplies in line with power demands.

Regardless where a person resides, they can have access to cheap electricity that could lower their monthly bill. Some ways that people can lower their bills include the implementation of conservative energy practices within the home, using less electrical appliance and electronics and finding companies that provide the best rates. This seems like it could be a lot work for the average consumer and there are companies such as
that could help to simplify this process.

What ways do you try to conserve energy in your home and or workplace?