The pie charts illustrate the sources of energy generation in Germany and France for the year 2009.
Overall, Germany’s most significant source of electricity is conventional thermal energy, while France prefers nuclear energy.
Germany produced 560 billion kWh, which is 50 billion kWh more than France’s production. Almost 60 percent of Germany’s electricity came from fossil fuels, surpassing the 23 percent from nuclear energy and the 17 percent from renewable sources. There are 4 main alternative energy sources: biomass, wind, hydroelectric, and solar. The most actively used renewable sources are biomass, accounting for 39.3 percent, and wind, representing for 36.9 percent. Additionally, the least used energy type is solar, which accounts for only around 6 percent, and it is about 11 percent less than hydroelectric energy. Both countries did not use geothermal energy.
In France, almost 80 percent of electricity came from nuclear stations, while renewable and conventional thermal energy were used at similar rates, with renewable energy at 13.7 percent and conventional thermal energy at 10.3 percent. Additionally, hydroelectric energy is the most used among alternative energy sources, with a usage rate 60 percent higher than that of other types of renewable energy.