Venezuela
VENVenezuela has taken the carbon out of its electricity fast.
341 grams of CO2e a kilowatt-hour in 2014, 86 in 2024.
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.
Among the cleanest electricity anywhere.
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.
Venezuela 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 Venezuela
Venezuela has cleaned up its grid faster than most people realise.
Low-carbon electricity went from 58% to 91% in 5 years.
Venezuela runs almost entirely on hydro.
91% of its electricity comes from one source.
Venezuela’s neighbours
ColombiaColombia uses less electricity per person than any other country in the OECD.
BrazilBrazil is first in Latin America and the Caribbean for how much electricity it makes.
GuyanaGuyana runs almost entirely on oil.
Trinidad and TobagoTrinidad and Tobago runs almost entirely on gas.
GrenadaGrenada runs almost entirely on oil.
Figures are for 2024, the most recent year reported for Venezuela. Generation shares are a percentage of electricity generated, not of energy used. How this is calculated.