Australia
AUSAustralia is among the world's biggest wind and solar producers and still burns fossil fuels for most of its power.
33% of its electricity is wind and solar; 61% is still fossil. Both are true at once, and that tension is the whole story of the transition.
What this grid depends on
Three measures that say more about a country than how much power it makes. Open “what this means” on any of them if the term is new.
Cleaner than 4 in 10 grids worldwide.
What this means
How much planet-warming gas is released to make one unit of electricity. Two countries can generate exactly the same amount and one of them be ten times dirtier doing it. Lower is better.
Australia generates almost exactly what it uses, with next to nothing crossing its borders.
What this means
Electricity can be sold across a border like anything else, through high-voltage lines connecting one country's grid to the next. Buying it in means leaning on a neighbour to keep the lights on. Selling it means generating more than the country needs.
Almost everything this grid runs on comes from inside the country.
What this means
How much of what this grid runs on the country can supply itself. Sun, wind and water count fully, because nobody can cut them off; coal, gas and oil only as far as the country digs them up. A high score is not the same as a good grid: mining your own coal scores well, importing uranium scores badly.
Also true of Australia
Australia is second in the OECD for coal.
Coal supplies 43% of its electricity.
Solar overtook wind on Australia's grid in 2020.
Today solar supplies 20% and wind 14%.
Australia's electricity is dirtier than the world average.
525 grams of CO2e a kilowatt-hour against a world figure of 458 — 15% above.
Australia’s neighbours
East TimorEast Timor runs one of the most fossil-dependent grids in the world.
IndonesiaIndonesia is second in Asia for bioenergy.
BruneiBrunei runs one of the most fossil-dependent grids in Asia.
MalaysiaCoal overtook gas on Malaysia's grid in 2016.
PhilippinesThe Philippines is first in Asia for geothermal.
Figures are for 2025, the most recent year reported for Australia. Generation shares are a percentage of electricity generated, not of energy used. How this is calculated.