As 100,000 delegates convene at the UN climate summit in Antalya, Turkey, co-hosts are pushing nations to raise electricity’s share of total energy use to 35% by 2035, up from the current global average of 23%, throwing a spotlight on countries already running predominantly on electrified systems.
The race to electrification sits at the center of discussions at the UN climate summit, The Guardian reported, where nations are evaluating how increased reliance on clean electricity reshapes daily life. While global electricity consumption stands at 23% of total energy use, individual nations present vastly different realities on the ground.
In Oslo, Norway, hydropower accounts for 90% of all electricity generation, and passenger vehicles have nearly completed the transition to battery power. In September, 98.81% of new cars sold in the country were electric, according to figures noted by The Guardian.
“I use electricity in my three-bedroom flat and I have district heating [where heat is transported around a local network from a centralised source rather than individual boilers to heat homes and buildings]. For electricity we are connected to the Norwegian central grid, which is mainly hydropower,” Unni Berge, head of communications at the Norwegian EV Association, said.
She lives in a three-bedroom flat in Oslo and uses district heating alongside a central grid powered mainly by hydropower.
“I mostly use my electric car on weekends,” Berge told The Guardian, noting that she commutes by bus because public transit in her neighborhood runs every five minutes and city-center driving involves heavy restrictions.
Berge charges her vehicle using a collective charging system installed in her apartment building’s garage. She spends 730 Norwegian kroner (£57) on electricity for her apartment in October, down from 500 kroner in September, though she points to emerging debates over rising energy demands from datacentres and how European gas prices influence Norwegian electricity costs during dry winters.
Thousands of miles away in Kigali, Rwanda, electrification takes a different form through government-backed commercial fleets. Six years ago, the Rwandan government removed taxes on electric vehicles and offered incentives for charging stations while banning the registration of new fossil-fuel motorcycles in the capital.
Claver Habagusenga works as an electric motorbike taxi driver in Kigali, starting his shifts at 5 a.m. after checking his tire pressure and battery health. He prepares his meals using an induction cooker, abandoning the charcoal stove he once used.
“I always advise my colleagues with fuel bikes to switch to electric ones,” Habagusenga told The Guardian, contrasting his current daily earnings of $11.50 with the $6.09 he made while operating a petrol motorcycle.
Habagusenga visits battery swap stations three times a day, paying $1.69 per swap to power a bike that gives him an operating range of 60 to 90 kilometers. He points out that his electric motorbike costs $2.03 for an annual road licence, compared with $6.77 for a fuel motorbike.
In Shanghai, China, electric two-wheelers and passenger cars dominate urban transit corridors. Phate Zhang, relies on a family fleet of three electric scooters and one electric car for daily errands and school runs.
“I spend an average of 200 yuan [£22] charging my car each month,” Zhang told The Guardian, explaining that he bought his electric vehicle in 2020 to avoid paying 90,000 yuan for a fossil-fuel car number plate in Shanghai.
Zhang’s father uses a communal charging pod in their apartment building’s garage to charge his electric scooter for 0.6 yuan, an amount sufficient to cover a 20-kilometer trip. While consumers in China and Norway face different economic pressures and grid connections, operating expenses drive the practical reality.
“I spend less today. That is all that matters to me and my family,” Habagusenga told The Guardian.
