U.S. Energy Information Administration logo
Skip to sub-navigation

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

This page has no sub-navigation. Skip to page content.

How much of world energy production and consumption is from renewable energy?

According to EIA's International Energy Statistics, the amounts and percentage shares of renewable energy production and consumption in 2021 are:

ProductionConsumption
Total energy–quadrillion British thermal Units606.8 603.3
     Renewables–quadrillion British thermal Units73.0 72.8
         Share of total12%12%
Total liquid fuels–million barrels per day93.197.3
     Biofuels–million barrels per day2.62.7
         Share of total3%3%
Total electricity–trillion kilowatthours27.325.3
     Renewables–trillion kilowatthours 7.87.8
         Share of total29%30%

EIA also publishes projections and analysis for world consumption and production of renewable energy (and other types of energy sources) in the International Energy Outlook (IEO). The IEO2023 includes projections for world renewable energy consumption, production of liquid fuels from renewable sources, and electricity generation from renewable energy sources for the world, world regions, and selected countries.

The IEO2023 Reference case projections for renewable energy's share of total world energy consumption, liquid fuels production, and electricity generation are:

2022203020402050
Energy consumption116% 20%  23%  26%
Liquid fuels production2  3%   3%    3%    3%
Electricity generation3 30%  40%  46%   50%

1 See Table F1 (xls)
2 See Tables G1 (xls) and G3 (xls)
3 See Table E01 (xls)

Learn more:
International energy statistics (historical data for the world, regions, and countries)

Last updated: October 12, 2023.


Other FAQs about Electricity