Honduras: each kilowatt-hour is 17% cleaner, yet power plants emit 27% more
From 2013 to 2023 the share of electricity made without coal, gas or oil rose from 44% to 54%, but generation grew by 52%, from 8.2 TWh to 12.5 TWh. So total power-plant emissions rose from 3.2 million tonnes to 4.1 million tonnes of greenhouse gases.
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Emissions per kWh fall, but so much more electricity is generated that total emissions rise.
One percentage scale relative to 2013: 0% is the starting value, +100% is a doubling, −50% is a halving. Lines show the yearly path; on a short screen, bars show the change to 2023. Equal distances mean equal relative changes. For shares, this is relative change, not percentage points. Gaps are not filled; original values and units are below.
- Low-carbon share of electricity % of generation
44.093 (2013) → 54.363 (2023)
- Wind and solar share of electricity % of generation
3.776 (2013) → 13.851 (2023)
- Coal share of electricity % of generation
1.218 (2013) → 0.48 (2023)
- Carbon intensity of electricity g CO2e per kWh
394.397 (2013) → 328.503 (2023)
- Electricity generation TWh per year
8.21 (2013) → 12.49 (2023)
- Electricity generation emissions Mt CO2e per year
3.238 (2013) → 4.103 (2023)
Start: 2013; end: the latest shared year of six series up to 2023 (2023). Shares, emissions per kWh, generation and total emissions are separate values in the same Ember publication. Only power systems of at least 10 TWh a year. No expected baseline is fitted.
Clean sources are nuclear, hydro, wind, solar and other plants burning no coal, gas or oil; wind and solar are part of that share. Emissions cover power plants only, not the whole economy, in CO₂ equivalent.
A question for this picture
Which improvement matters more: a cleaner kWh or total emissions?