The 10 Most Energy Efficient Countries in the World

Would anyone like to guess the world's most energy efficient country? It definitely isn't one that I would think of, but it's at the very tippity-top of the pile: Japan.

Japan uses 4,519 BTUs per U.S. GDP. What this means is that Japan has a very high GDP, and this makes it very likely to be energy efficient. Here's how it was put in an article on Forbes.com, written by Josh Zumbrun:

"A country with a very high GDP and relatively little energy consumed is likely to be a very energy-efficient economy. Conversely a country with huge energy consumption and relatively little GDP is unlikely to be efficient. A BTU, or British thermal unit, is the amount of heat energy needed to raise the temperature of one pound of water by one degree Fahrenheit."

Also stated in the article is the fact that, just like any other experimental measurement, the results of the study aren't perfect, but it makes more sense than the other candidate for the spot, the country of Chad. Although Chad does use a much smaller amount of energy, it's economy is mostly sustained by farming, and the technology they use to maintain their farms is quite low-tech. With these points made, it wouldn't make much sense to compare a country like Chad to a much larger, more modern country like the U.S.

Following Japan are these countries, in order:

• 2. Denmark with an energy consumption of 4,845 BTUs



• 3. Switzerland, 4,901 BTUs



• 4. Hong Kong, 4,911 BTUs (Not exactly a country, but it somehow ended up on the list.)



• 5. Ireland, 5,315 BTUs



• 6. United Kingdom, 6,145 BTUs



• 7. Israel, 6,719 BTUs



• 8. Italy, 7,118 BTUs



• 9. Germany, 7,396 BTUs



• 10. Austria, 7,430 BTUs

And there it is, the complete list of the 10 most energy efficient countries in the world. Somehow, it isn't much of a surprise that the U.S. isn't on that list, but we sincerely hope that we someday will be able to say that we are at the top, and that we can lead the "green" revolution that so desperately needs to take place.

By Shaneekwa and Ninja

For more information on this topic, check out this website: http://www.forbes.com/2008/07/o3/energy-efficiency-japan-biz-energy_cz_jz_0707efficiency_countries.html