2. Energy Use, Economy, and Carbon Emissions
7. Environment and Energy Efficiency
3.
Energy Statistics 
Primary Energy Consumption and Production, 1997 (Quadrillion British Thermal Units, Btu Table [Source]
Energy in
the Americas*
- The countries of the Americas vary in terms of the size of their economies and their energy consumption per dollar of economic output.
- Per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the Americas ranges from less than $400 (in $1997) in Haiti to around $30,000 in the United States. With the exception of the United States and Canada, per capita GDP is less than $10,000.
- Energy consumption per dollar of GDP is highest in the U.S. Virgin Islands, Trinidad and Tobago, Canada, and Venezuela, which have large petroleum sectors with respect to the size of their economies. Most countries, including the United States, use less than 15,000 British thermal units (Btu) of energy per $1987 dollar of GDP.
- The countries of North America both consume and produce more energy than all other countries of the Americas combined.
- In 1997, Canada, Mexico, and the United States accounted for 86% of all energy consumption, and 80% of all energy production, in the Americas. The United States dominates both production and consumption, with Canada the second largest energy producer and consumer in the Americas.
- Unlike the United States, which consumes more energy than it produces (making it a large net energy importer), both Canada and Mexico are net exporters of energy (producing more than they consume).
- South American countries account for most of the rest of the energy produced and consumed in the Americas (14% of energy consumption and 20% of energy production in 1997).
- The energy situation varies extensively from one South American country to another. Venezuela, for example, is the largest net energy exporter in the Americas while Brazil is the second largest net importer after the United States.
- In South America, other significant net energy exporters (besides Venezuela) include Colombia and Argentina. Most other countries are net energy importers.
- With the exception of Trinidad and Tobago, Central America and the Caribbean (including U.S. territories) produce very little energy and rely on imports for most or all of their energy consumption. The U.S. Virgin Islands is a major petroleum refining center and exporter of petroleum products. The crude oil for processing, however, must be imported.
Fossil Fuel Consumption Table
[Source]
Consumption/Reserves of Fossil Fuels
- All countries of the Americas consume at least some amount of petroleum, regardless of the availability of domestic supplies. Most have at least some refining capacity and engage in petroleum product trade on the world market.
- Consumption of natural gas and coal, although greater than petroleum, is concentrated almost exclusively in the United States and Canada. Coal and gas usage depend heavily on the availability of either domestic or nearby resources and the extent to which these resources—along with the necessary transportation infrastructure—have been developed.
- No country in Central America consumes significant volumes of natural gas, largely due to the lack of domestic supplies and the physical challenges associated with building pipelines over rugged terrain. Panama consumed a small amount (54,000 short tons) of coal in 1997.
- Trinidad and Tobago is the only Caribbean country using significant amounts of natural gas, which is produced domestically. The Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands consume small amounts of coal.
- The largest coal consumer in South America in 1997 was Brazil, followed by Chile, Colombia, and Argentina. Argentina and Venezuela were the largest natural gas consumers, followed by Colombia and Brazil.
- Only in North America and parts of South America are all three major fossil fuels used.
- The United States, Canada and Mexico (which have developed their abundant domestic resources) make extensive use of petroleum, natural gas, and coal.
- In South America, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Peru, and Venezuela all use petroleum, natural gas, and coal.
- Fossil fuel reserves are concentrated heavily in North America. Other significant fossil fuel reserves include Venezuela (oil and gas), Argentina (gas), and Brazil (coal and oil).
- Other countries with smaller, but still significant, oil reserves include Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago, and Guatemala.
Fossil Fuel
Reserves 
Fossil Fuel Reserves Table [Source]
Crude Oil Trade, 1996
Crude Oil Trade, 1996 Table [Source]
Refining
Capacity* and Petroleum
Product Trade
Refining Capacity* and Petroleum Product Trade [Source]
Electric
Generating Capacity, 1997 
Electric Generating Capacity, 1997 Table [Source]
Electric Power in
the Americas
- In 1997, electric generating capacity in the Americas totalled nearly 1,083 gigawatts, about a third of the world’s total.
- Most of the generating capacity (62%) is thermal, which represents the primary source of electricity in the United States, Mexico, and the Caribbean.
Energy in the Americas
- Hydroelectric capacity accounts for about one-fourth of total electric generating capacity in the Americas. Hydroelectricity represents the primary source of electricity in Canada and most South and Central American countries. Reliance on hydropower is highest in Paraguay and Brazil (99% and 87% of generating capacity, respectively).
- Nuclear power accounts for 11% of total generating capacity, but it is heavily concentrated in the United States and Canada. Mexico, Argentina, and Brazil also have nuclear generating capacity, but it represents a relatively small share of their total capacity.
- Geothermal, wind, and solar generating plants make up only about 2% of the total capacity in the Americas; however, these sources represent 10%-15% of the generating capacity in two Central American countries (El Salvador and Nicaragua); 3% in Brazil; and 2% in Mexico and the United States.
- Access to a central power grid is more extensive in some countries than in others, particularly in terms of the availability of service in remote areas.
- In North America, the United States and Canada provide virtually universal access to electric power. Mexico has 1000’s of rural villages off-grid, but is using off-grid renewable energy for rural household electrification.
- In Central America, where about 70% of the population lives in rural areas and topography limits access to the grid in many areas, only about 44% of the population is connected to the transmission grid.
- Less than 40% of the population in the Caribbean region is connected to the electrical grid, but this varies widely. Dominica, the Dominican Republic, and Jamaica have low rates of utility service coverage while Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago have close to 100% coverage.
- In South America, approximately 90% of the population has access to electricity, with significant variation among countries (i.e. Uruguay is 95% electrified, while Bolivia is only 61% electrified).
Maps of the Americas
Central America and the Caribbean - PDF