Top 5 nations that use renewable energy

Solar, wind, tidal and geothermal energy made up only 1.3 percent of total global energy use in 2011, but that's up 15.5 percent from the previous year. This is increasing due to policy and private investment, as well as commitments to reduce environmental impact and dependence on foreign energy sources. Here are the top five countries which are making use of renewable energy.

Reuters
A solar power plant near a thermal power plant in Aksu, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in China.

5. Brazil, 5 percent of world total

Renowned for its biofuel production, Brazil is also involved with developing technologies such as solar water heating, and for relationships with countries outside its region, such as China. Brazil boosted large investments into the wind sector through government auctions for contracts since introducing them in 2009.  Brazil seeks to further renewable development and burnish its green credentials through supporting and attracting foreign investment into solar energy - as well as a pledge to have solar power in all twelve venues for the 2014 World Cup.

1 of 5

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.