The charts illustrate how electricity production changed by five categories of fuel in Australia and France in 1980 and 2000.
In 1980, 100 units of electricity were produced in total in Australia, with 50 percent by coal, 20 percent by hydropower, 20 percent by natural gas, and 10 percent by oil. The figure of total electricity production increased to 170 units in 2000 in Australia. However, while the figures of coal and hydropower soared to 130 units and 36 units, respectively, the figures of oil and natural gas dipped dramatically to 2.
In contrast, the total production of electricity was 90 units in France, with 25 units produced by coal, 20 units by oil, 25 units by natural gas, 15 units by nuclear power, and 5 units by hydropower. In 2000, the total electricity production doubled to 180 units. Despite coal remaining stable at 25 units and oil rising slightly to 25 units, electricity production derived from nuclear power witnessed a dramatic increase to 126 units, whereas hydropower and natural gas plunged to 2 units for each.
Overall, the graphs show Australia continued to rely on fossil energy resources (especially from coal), while electricity produced by nuclear power dominated in France.