Hydropower Continues Steady Growth

Hydropower Continues Steady Growth

Hayley Moller, Earth Policy Institute

June 14, 2012

See: http://www.earth-policy.org/data_highlights/2012/highlights29
World hydroelectric power generation has risen steadily by an average 3 percent annually over the past four decades. In 2011, at 3,500 billion kilowatt-hours, hydroelectricity accounted for roughly 16 percent of global electricity generation, almost all produced by the world’s 45,000-plus large dams. Today hydropower is generated in over 160 countries.

Four countries dominate the hydropower landscape: China, Brazil, Canada, and the United States. Together they produce more than half of the world’s hydroelectricity.

Much of the world’s recent growth came from China, where hydropower generation more than tripled from 220 billion kilowatt-hours in 2000 to 720 billion in 2010. In 2011, despite a drop in generation due to drought, hydropower accounted for 15 percent of China’s total electricity generation.

To read the full article, please click here: http://www.earth-policy.org/data_highlights/2012/highlights29