North America

The United States is the world’s largest economy in terms of gross national income. As such, it’s one of the world’s biggest consumers of fossil fuels; China, India, and the U.S. together use more fossil fuels than the rest of the world combined. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, almost 80 percent of the 92.9 quadrillion BTUs of energy consumed annually in the U.S. come from oil, gas or coal; only 12 percent is currently supplied by renewables, although this number is growing, particularly in the power sector. Under the current administration, the U.S. plans to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. (Sign up for the IEEFA US Electricity newsletter here.)

Canada is seldom considered a petrostate, but the northern nation produces 5.2 million barrels of oil every day, ranking fifth in global production. It’s also a major consumer of fossil energy, responsible for the fourth-largest amount of greenhouse gases among OECD nations. The Canadian Net-Zero Emissions Accountability Act, passed in 2021, commits the country to reach net-zero emissions by 2050.