Resources: Finding Reliable Clean-Energy Information

There is no shortage of clean-energy information online. The challenge is knowing which of it to trust. This page offers a simple approach to finding sources and reading them critically, along with links to the explainers on this site that give you the background you need.

Start with official sources

For anything involving numbers, such as how much electricity a country generates, what share comes from wind or sun, or what is planned, the most reliable starting points are usually:

National energy ministries and regulators, which publish policies, plans and licensing information.
National statistics offices, which compile energy data using published methods.
Utilities and grid operators, which often report on generation, demand and grid capacity.
International energy and statistics agencies, which gather data across many countries in a consistent way.

Even official figures are revised over time, so note the date of any data you use and look for the latest edition.

Using maps

Wind and solar atlases are excellent for a first look at where potential lies. Remember that they are modelled estimates, often at a coarse scale, and they cannot replace on-site measurement. Our guide to reading a wind map explains what the colours, heights and averages actually mean.

Reading reports critically

Ask a few questions of any report, article or presentation:

Who wrote it, and who paid for it? Industry groups, campaigners and companies can all produce useful work, but each has a perspective.
Capacity or output? Headlines often quote the maximum a plant can produce rather than what it actually generates. See Wind Basics for the difference.
What are the assumptions? Projections depend on assumed costs, demand and policy. Small changes can shift the results a lot.
Is it current? Energy changes quickly; a report from a few years ago may describe a very different situation.
Can you trace the numbers? Good work cites its sources so you can check them.

Explainers on this site

Our pages deliberately avoid statistics so that they stay accurate. Use them to understand the ideas, then turn to current official sources for the figures.