In the clean energy world, solar and wind are all the buzz. So, when we see maps like this, we quickly think, ‘Wow! Look at all that wind and solar powering all those countries!’. But that is wrong. Hydropower is, by far, the largest source of renewable energy globally and the biggest contributor to clean grids.

To reveal this omitted truth, we decided to map renewables with and without hydropower. The map speaks for itself — once hydropower is removed from the equation, only a handful of countries remain on the high-renewable end of the spectrum. Explore our interactive map and see for yourself.

More than 140 countries have some hydropower in their energy mix. We also took a closer look at countries where renewables make up 50% or more of the electricity generation. The takeaway? Hydropower dominates in 48 out of the 57 countries, contributing 40% or more to their power supply. In the rare exceptions, geothermal and wind take the lead, followed by biomass. Meanwhile, despite its dramatic cost declines, solar remains the smallest contributor to renewable grids worldwide. Look at the graphic below.