World energy consumption by fuel type and sector

by Carlton Brown | Nov 19, 2018 | 0 comments

The world depends on non-renewable fossil and nuclear fuels for its primary sources of energy. Fossil fuels supply 83 percent of the world’s energy needs. More than 90 percent of energy consumption is accounted for by industrial, transportation, and residential use.[i]

The level and mix of energy use varies by sector and by country, depending on their stage of economic and technological development.[ii] At the macro level, liquid fuels, natural gas, and coal supply over 80 percent of energy consumed, with nuclear fuel and renewable energy accounting for the balance, as indicated in the figure above.

The global energy market consumes its supply of energy across the industrial, transportation, residential, and commercial sectors. Industrial use and transportation account for 80 percent of the energy consumed globally, making these two sectors important for a switch to renewable energy and the realization of fossil fuel savings.[iii]

Keys actions for the industrial sector to improve its energy efficiency and switch energy systems

The industrial sector is the largest global user of energy, consuming more than half of the energy supplied across all sectors. Heat and energy-intensive manufacturing processes consume most of this energy. This energy is used in the manufacture of food, steel and other metals, chemicals, in oil refining, and in pulp and paper production.

Principle areas for industrial action would include switching manufacturing processes to renewable energy for low temperature heating and cooling processes, and for fluid heating and steam generation processes. Switching to renewable energy systems for powering lighting and air temperature control systems inside buildings will also lead to significant fossil fuel savings.[iv]

Where heat is generated in industrial and manufacturing processes, energy recovery systems should be utilized to harness the dissipated or waste heat to improve overall energy efficiency.

Keys actions for the transport sector to improve its energy efficiency and switch energy systems

Figure A) Liquid fuels account for 95 percent of all fuels used in transportation, while natural gas and electricity account for the rest. B) Industry is the largest user of fossil fuel energy supplies, with energy-intensive manufacturing processes accounting for nearly 70 percent of industry’s total energy use.[v]

The transportation sector is the second-largest user of energy. More than half of the energy used by the transportation sector is in nations belonging to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).[vi]^,[vii] However transportation in non-OECD nations is expected to dominate future growth in fuel use.[viii]

Passenger transportation accounts for nearly two-thirds of transportation fuel use, and freight transport for just over one-third. Light duty passenger transportation, air transportation, freight trucks, and shipping are the main users of energy within the transportation sector.[ix] All of these means of transport must come under scrutiny designed to find ways to improve their fuel use and efficiency. Reducing energy use and improving energy efficiency will require a general downsizing of engine capacities and reductions in vehicle weights.

Switching transportation to renewable energy systems is a priority, especially for passenger and freight transportation, as well as in cities and on the main intercity routes where most traffic occurs. The two main options for switching the transport sector to renewable energy sources are reviewed on another page.

[i]       Data: International Energy Outlook 2017. Release Date: September 14, 2017, Report Number: DOE/EIA-0484(2017). Data extracted from. Table F1. Total world delivered energy consumption by end-use sector and fuel, Reference case, 2015-50. https://www.eia.gov/outlooks/ieo/excel/appf_tables.xlsx. Downloaded 06/04/2018.

[ii]       U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). International Energy Outlook 2017. Release Date: September 14, 2017. Report Number: DOE/EIA-0484(2017). https://www.eia.gov/outlooks/ieo/pdf/industrial.pdf.

[iii]      U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), Annual Energy Outlook 2017, DOE/EIA-0383(2017) (Washington, DC: January 2017). Data used; https://www.eia.gov/outlooks/ieo/excel/appf_tables.xlsx.

[iv]      U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). International Energy Outlook 2017. Release Date: September 14, 2017. Report Number: DOE/EIA-0484(2017). https://www.eia.gov/outlooks/ieo/pdf/industrial.pdf.

[v]       Data: Report: International Energy Outlook 2017. Release Date: September 14, 2017, Report Number: DOE/EIA-0484(2017). (1) Figure 9.3.A: Data extracted from. Table L1. Transportation sector energy consumption by region and fuel, Reference case, 2015-50. https://www.eia.gov/outlooks/ieo/excel/appl_tables.xlsx. Downloaded 06/04/2018. (2) Figure 9.3.B: Data extracted from. Table K1. Industrial sector energy consumption by region and sector, Reference case, 2015-50. https://www.eia.gov/outlooks/ieo/excel/appk_tables.xlsx. Downloaded 06/04/2018.

[vi]      List of OECD Member countries – Ratification of the Convention on the OECD. http://www.oecd.org/about/membersandpartners/list-oecd-member-countries.htm.

[vii]      U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). International Energy Outlook 2017. Release Date: September 14, 2017, Report Number: DOE/EIA-0484(2017). Data adapted from https://www.eia.gov/outlooks/ieo/excel/appl_tables.xlsx. Accessed 06/04/2018.

[viii]     U.S. Energy Information Administration. Transportation sector energy consumption. Overview. International Energy Outlook 2016. https://www.eia.gov/outlooks/ieo/pdf/transportation.pdf. [See Overview on page 1 of 11 of Chapter 8].

[ix]      U.S. Energy Information Administration. Transportation sector energy consumption. Overview. International Energy Outlook 2016. https://www.eia.gov/outlooks/ieo/pdf/transportation.pdf. [See Overview on page 4 and 5 of 11 of Chapter 8].

Most energy consumption is by a minority of nations

by Carlton Brown | Nov 19, 2018 | 0 comments

A small number of nations consume the majority of the world’s energy resources. Twelve nations are responsible for about 70 percent of the energy consumed, with China and the USA alone accounting for 40 percent. Twenty other nations consume a further 17 percent, leaving the rest of the world’s 160+ nations to consume 12.6 percent.[1] These 160+ nations’ are dependent on energy imports because they hold less than 4% of global fossil fuel energy reserves, which make them vulnerable to a future tightening of energy supplies.

In 2015, electricity delivered to the end-user accounted for 13.5 percent of world energy consumption. Staggeringly, of the 575 quadrillion BTU of energy consumed each year, 72 quadrillion British thermal units (BTU) were delivered as electricity, while 146 quadrillion BTUs (of that 575 quadrillion BTUs) were lost in the production of that electricity at the time of its generation.^[2] Put another way, one-quarter of all energy consumed is wasted in the process of generating electricity, due to inefficiencies of converting energy to electricity.

Therefore, of all the initiatives that we can undertake to save fossil fuels and extend our energy reserve timelines (for today’s youth in tomorrow’s colder world), two strategic priorities stand out above all others. Firstly, if China, the USA, India, and other large industrial(izing) nations accelerated their nascent energy system switches, this would have a major impact on extending the lifetimes of world energy reserves. Secondly, rapidly switching electricity generation systems to renewable energy will have the biggest impact on extending the lifetimes of our fossil fuel reserves because this would save wasting one-quarter of global energy production each year to produce electricity. At the same time, making improvements in the efficiency of energy conversion into electricity, and the use of heat co-generation technologies in producing that electricity, would also save major amounts of energy.

[1]       Data: Energy Information Administration: Primary energy and electricity consumption data were obtained from the International Energy Statistics data portal. World primary energy consumption by country (Quadrillion British thermal units, 1015 Btu), https://bit.ly/2xAB4sR. World electricity consumption by country (Billion Kwh) https://bit.ly/2J8TJ0t. Kilowatt hours (Kwh) were converted to British thermal units (Btu) using the 2015 conversion factor obtained from, https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/index.php?page=about_btu. 1 kilowatt-hour = 3,412 Btu.

[2]       Energy Information Administration. International Energy Outlook 2017. Release Date: September 14, 2017, Report Number: DOE/EIA-0484(2017). Data extracted from. Table F1. Total world delivered energy consumption by end-use sector and fuel, Reference case, 2015-50. https://www.eia.gov/outlooks/ieo/excel/appf_tables.xlsx. Downloaded 06/04/2018.