Wow! Here comes Setsuden-mushi.! Chapter 4 Birth of Setsuden-mushi 　4.5 Standby Power Consumption 4.5.2 Electricity Generating Methods

　As you know, fuel is necessary to produce electricity. Solar power and wind power as new energy sources do not require fuel directly, but coal, oil, gas, nuclear power, hydroelectric power, and geothermal power are practically used to generate electricity by conventional methods.

　The Volume data of the total annual electricity generation in the world in 2017, including the seven major industrialized countries (the United States, Canada, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, and Japan) can be found at the following website

https://sustainablejapan.jp/2020/04/03/world-electricity-production/14138　

　The total annual power generation of these seven countries in the year 2000 was 75.9 billion kWh. The fuels used for electricity generation and the percentage of fuels used to generate this enormous amount of electricity are shown for the seven major industrialized countries as a whole, Japan and Canada (this data is for 1994).

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Power　　　　   7 Leading Nations   Japan　Canada

Gene. Fuel 　　   as a Whole                

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Coal                37.9%          16.9%   16.0%

Nuclear power       24.0%          28.2%   19.5%

Hydro/geothermal    15.4%           7.0%   59.2%

Gas                 12.2%          19.7%    2.8%

Petroleum            8.7%          26.8%    1.7%

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　In Japan, fossil fuels account for 43.7% (coal 16.9%, oil 26.8%) and nuclear power 28.2%. And gas is 19.7%, Hydroelectric and geothermal power accounted for 7.0%.

　In general, Japan's power generation pattern approximates the average of the seven major industrialized countries and is well balanced, while the other six countries rely on a single resource for more than 50% of their power generation. For example, the United States generates 52.5% of its total electricity from coal, Germany generates 56.7% from coal, and the United Kingdom 50.5% from coal and Italy 50.9% from oil respectively.

　Canada and France are unique. Canada generates 59.2% of their electricity from hydroelectric and geothermal sources, while France generates 76.2% of its electricity from nuclear power. The power generation patterns may differ depending on each country's circumstances and way of thinking, we Japan would like to approach the Canadian model if possible. What do you say about this?

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