Energy consumption refers to the aggregated amount of power used to satisfy the energy needs of a unit (household, business) or system (neighborhood, city). Usually, those energy sources that have high calorific value such as coal, crude oil, natural gas, and electricity are considered when determining the rates of energy consumption. However, in some cases, fuels of low calorific value such as biomass, solar, or wind energy can also be taken into account. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and energy crises have caused significant turbulence in the global energy market with the consumption of traditional fuels falling and the production of renewables increasing.
The industrial revolution of the 18th century brought about a major shift in demand and the sources of energy. Countries moved away from traditional energy sources, such as animal power and biomass, to more novel sources such as thermal (e.g., generated by coal), chemical (e.g., petrol or natural gas), and electric energy. It is worth mentioning that the world was consuming about 5,653 terawatts-hour in 1800 (98.3% from biomass and 1.7% from coal), 7,791 terawatts-hour in 1850 (92.7% from biomass and 7.3% from coal), and 171,240 terawatts-hour in 2018 which is 30 times more than 1800 and 22 times more than in 1850.
Three hundred years later, in the first decades of the 21st century, the international community has recognized the danger of overusing fossil fuels, calling upon a migration towards more sustainable and environmentally-friendly sources of energy (e.g., solar and wind power).
Based on the comparative data on global energy consumption for 1973 and 2019 made available by the International Energy Agency (IEA), it can be observed that the use of oil, coal, and biofuel has dropped in the last three decades by 8.1%, 4.1%, and 2.2% respectively. On the other hand, the share of electricity, natural gas, and renewables used to generate energy grew by 10.1%, 2.3%, and 1.9% respectively.
See also: Evolution of rooftop photovoltaic systems
Fig.1. Share of global energy consumption by source (1973 vs 2019, %)
Source: International Energy Agency – Final consumption world total final energy consumption by source.
2020 Statistics on World Energy Consumption
- The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has caused a significant drop in the rates of energy consumption at the global level which equaled 4.5% in 2020 – the largest decline since 1945.
- The share of carbon emissions from energy use fell by 6.3% in 2020 matching the levels registered in 2011.
- In 2019, the 38 OECD-member states were the leaders in energy consumption amounting to 38.1% of global energy levels, followed by China with 21.1% and non-OECD Asia with 13.6% of the total.
- The BRENT crude oil price averaged US$41.84 per barrel in 2020 – the lowest since 2004. Nonetheless, in the context of the ongoing energy crisis and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the price for BRENT went up to US$112 per barrel matching prices in 2014.
- A similar situation can be observed with regards to natural gas consumption which fell by 81 billion cubic meters in 2020 but quickly recovered in 2021. Due to inadequate levels of supply on the European market, the prices for natural gas exceeded US$2,100 per 1,000 cubic meters for the first time in history.
- In 2020, the use of coal at the global level fell by 4.2% but at the same time China and Malaysia, as the world’s leading coal consumers, increased their rates of coal consumption.
- The rates of energy generated by renewables rose by 9.7% in 2020 with solar and wind power showing the most significant growth.
What’s next?
Energy consumption rates have been affected by the ongoing pandemic and energy crises. Based on historic data, the international community is transitioning from traditional fossil fuels to renewable forms of energy generation but this process is very slow. Currently, crude oil, electricity and natural gas represent the most important sources of energy at the global level.
As the power sector accounts for almost a quarter of global greenhouse gas emissions, governments around the world need to increase efforts to shift energy systems to renewables. Some argue that the energy consumption trend will change significantly over the next decade as solar and wind power become cheaper than coal in most countries, generating more jobs and giving people cleaner air.
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