World energy resources and consumption

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The factual accuracy of this article is disputed. Please see the relevant discussion on the talk page.

This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please discuss this issue on the talk page or replace this tag with a more specific message. This article has been tagged since April 2007.

World energy consumption in TW (=10¹² Watt), 1980-2004.^[1]

In 2004, the worldwide energy consumption of the human race was estimated at 446 Quadrillion BTUs, with 86.3% from burning fossil fuels.^[2] This is equivalent to 131,400 TWh or 0.5 ZJ (= 10²¹ J) per year.. As shown by the difference between the first two images in this article, there is at least 10% uncertainty in the world's energy consumption. Not all of the world's economies track their energy consumption with the same rigor and the exact energy content of a barrel of oil or a ton of coal will vary with their quality.

The remaining worldwide energy resources are large, with the remaining fossil fuels totaling an estimated 400 ZJ and the available nuclear fuel such as uranium exceeding 2.5 YJ (1 YJ = 10²⁴J). Mostly thanks to the Sun, the world also has a renewable usable energy flux that exceeds 120 PW.

To make it easier to compare the numbers, this article uses SI units and prefixes and measures energy rate in watts (W) and energy in joules (J).

[edit] Consumption

World energy consumption in TW, 1965-2005.^[3]

Global energy consumption in successively increasing detail^[3][4]

Energy Intensity of different economies The graph shows the amount of energy it takes to produce a US $ of GNP for selected countries. GNP is based on 2004 purchasing power parity and 2000 dollars adjusted for inflation.^[1]

Energy consumption per capita versus the GNP per capita The graph plots the per capita energy versus the per capita income for all countries with more than 20 million inhabitants, the data more than 90% of the world's population. The image shows the broad relation between wealth and energy consumption.^[5]

GDP and Energy consumption in Japan from 1958 - 2000 The data shows the strong correlation between GDP and energy use, however it also shows that this link can be broken. After the oil shocks of 1973 and 1979 the energy use stagnated while Japan's GDP continued to grow, after 1985, under the influence of the then much cheaper oil, energy use resumed its historical relation to GDP.^[6]

Worldwide overview of nuclear power. Nations in light green are constructing their first reactor, those red have decommissioned their last.^{[citation needed]}

Worldwide energy supply in TW^[1]

Remaining Oil Breakdown of the remaining 57 ZJ oil on the planet in ZJ(=10²¹J). The annual oil consumption was 0.18 ZJ in 2005. There is significant uncertainty surrounding these numbers. The 11 ZJ of future additions to the recoverable reserves could be optimistic.^[7][8]

World renewable energy in 2005 (except 2004 data for items marked* or **).^[4]

Available renewable energy. The volume of the cubes represent the amount of available wind and solar energy. The small red cube shows the proportional global energy consumption. Values are in TW =10¹² Watt. The amount of available renewable energy dwarfs the global consumption.^[9]

Solar energy as it is dispersed on the planet and radiated back to space. Values are in PW =10¹⁵ Watt.^{[10] [verification needed]}

Since the advent of the industrial revolution, the worldwide energy consumption has been growing steadily. In 1890 the consumption of fossil fuels roughly equaled the amount of biomass fuel burned by households and industry. In 1900, global energy consumption equaled 0.7 TW(=10¹² Watt.)^[11]

[edit] Fossil fuels

The twentieth century saw a rapid twenty-fold increase in the use of fossil fuels. Between 1980 and 2004, the worldwide annual growth rate was 2%. Fossil fuels supply 87% of the world's energy.^[2] The estimated 15TW total energy consumption of 2004 was divided as follows:^{[citation needed]}

Coal fueled the industrial revolution in the 18^th and 19^th century. With the advent of the automobile, airplanes and the spreading use of electricity, oil became the dominant fuel during the twentieth century. The growth of oil as the largest fossil fuel was further enabled by steadily dropping prices from 1920 until 1973. After the oil shocks of 1973 and 1979, during which the price of oil increased from 5 to 45 US dollars per barrel, there was a shift away from oil.^[12] Coal and nuclear became the fuels of choice for electricity generation and conservation measures increased energy efficiency. In the US the average car more than doubled the number of miles per gallon. Japan, who bore the brunt of the oil shocks, made spectacular improvements and now has the highest energy efficiency in the world.^[5] Over the last forty years, the use of fossil fuels has continued to grow and their share of the energy supply has increased. In the last three years, coal has reclaimed its legacy as the fastest growing fossil fuel.^[13]

[edit] Nuclear power

Main article: Nuclear power by country

Worldwide, there are currently 435 operational nuclear power plants, with a further 30 under construction. Among the nations not currently using nuclear power, Iran, North Korea, Australia, Turkey, Indonesia, Vietnam, Egypt, Israel and Poland are building them, or are proposing to do so.

After stagnating in the West towards the end of the 20th century, Finland and the United States have ordered new nuclear plants. Various others are considering doing so, while some are planning to phase out nuclear power altogether.

[edit] Renewable energy

Main article: Renewable energy

In 2004, renewable energy supplied around 7% of the world's energy consumption.^[14] The renewables sector has been growing significantly since the last years of the 20th century, and in 2005 the total new investment was estimated to have been 38 billion US dollars. Germany and China lead with investments of about 7 billion US dollars each, followed by the United States, Spain, Japan, and India.^[4] This resulted in an additional 192.9 GW of capacity during the year.

[edit] Hydropower

Worldwide hydroelectricity consumption reached 816 GW in 2005, consisting of 750 GW of large plants, and 66 GW of small hydro installations. Large hydro capacity totaling 10.9 GW was added by China, Brazil and India during the year, but there was a much faster growth (8%) in small hydro, with 5 GW added, mostly in China where some 58% of the world's small hydro plants are now located.^{[citation needed]}

In the western world the construction of large hydro plants has stagnated due to environmental concerns. As evident from the first two images of this article; BP and the EIA have a dramatically different view of the global hydroelectricity supply.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Biomass and biofuels

Until the end of the nineteenth century biomass was the predominant fuel, today it has only a small share of the overall energy supply. Electricity produced from biomass sources was estimated at 44 GW for 2005. Biomass electricity generation increased by over 100% in Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands, Poland and Spain. A further 220 GW was used for heating (in 2004), bringing the total energy consumed from biomass to around 264 GW. The use of biomass fires for cooking is excluded.^[4]

World production of bioethanol increased by 8% in 2005 to reach 3.3 billion litres (0.872 billion US gallons), with most of the increase in the United States, bringing it level to the levels of consumption in Brazil.^[4]

Biodiesel increased by 85% to 3.9 billion litres (1.03 billion US gallons), making it the fastest growing renewable energy source in 2005. Over 50% is produced in Germany.^[4]

[edit] Wind power

According to REN21,^[15] Template:Verify sources wind energy consumption increased by 24% in 2005 to total 59 GW with over half the increase in the United States, Germany and Spain.^[4] The United States National Renewable Energy Laboratory has a slightly higher estimate of 65 GW in 2004.^[14] The total installed capacity is approximately three times that of the actual energy produced as the nominal capacity represents peak output; actual capacity is generally from 25-40% of the nominal capacity.

[edit] Solar power

Solar energy used during 2005 was approximately 93.4 GW.

In 2005 grid-connected photovoltaic electricity was the fastest growing renewable energy after biodiesel. During the year consumption increased by 55% on 2004 to bring the installed capacity to 3.1 GW. Over half of the increase was in Germany, now the world's largest consumer of photovoltaic electricity (followed by Japan). It was estimated that there was a further 2.3 GW of off-grid electricity produced, bringing the total to 5.4 GW.^[4]

The consumption of solar hot water and solar space heating was estimated at 88 GWt (gigawatts of thermal power) in 2004. The heating of water for unglazed swimming pools is excluded.^[4]

Portugal has opened the world's most powerful solar power plant. The 11 megawatt solar power plant, comprising 52,000 photovoltaic modules is based in southern Portugal which is one of the sunniest places in Europe. It produces sufficient energy to power 8000 homes.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Geothermal

Geothermal energy is used commercially in over 70 countries.^[16] By the end of 2005 worldwide use for electricity had reached 9.3 GW, with an additional 28 GW used directly for heating.^[4] If heat recovered by ground source heat pumps is included, the non-electric use of geothermal energy is estimated at more than 100 GW.^[16]

[edit] By country

See also: Energy by country

Energy consumption broadly tracks with gross national product, although there is a significant difference between the consumption levels of the United States with 11.4 kW per person and Japan and Germany with 6 kW per person. Canada has the highest energy consumption per person, whereas the lowest energy consumption takes place in the third world. In developing countries such as India the per person energy use is closer to 0.5 kW.

The most significant growth of energy consumption is currently taking place in China, which has been growing at 5.5% per year over the last 25 years. Its population of 1.3 billion people is currently consuming energy at a rate of 2 kW per person.

One metric of efficiency is energy intensity. This is a measure of the amount of energy it takes a country to produce a dollar of gross domestic product. Japan and the UK are among the most efficient in the world, while developing countries lack the resources to buy energy.

[edit] By sector

Transportation, industry, residential and commercial (offices and shops) users each consume approximately equal shares of the total 15 TW.^{[citation needed]}

A third of the world's energy is used to produce electricity. In 2005, global electricity consumption equaled 2 TW. The energy used to generate 2 TW of electricity is approximately 5 TW, as the efficiency of a typical existing power plant is around 38%.^[17] The new generation of gas-fired plants reaches a substantially higher efficiency of 55%. Coal is the most popular fuel for the world's electricity plants.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Resources

[edit] Fossil fuel

Despite several voices predicting the imminent decline of oil, the mainstream view is that there are still significant reserves of all traditional fossil fuels. Remaining reserves of conventional fossil fuels are estimated as:^[8][18] Template:Verify sources

Again, significant uncertainty exists for these numbers. The estimation of the remaining fossil fuels on the planet depends on a detailed understanding of the Earth crust. This understanding is still less than perfect. While modern drilling technology makes it possible to drill wells in up to 3 km of water to verify the exact composition of the geology, one half of the ocean is deeper than 3 km, leaving about a third of the planet beyond the reach of detailed analysis.

[edit] Coal

See also: World coal reserves

Coal is especially abundant and by itself can sustain the current energy consumption of the entire planet for 600 years. This was the fuel that launched the industrial revolution. It is currently making a comeback; China is constructing a new coal fired power plant every week. Coal is the fastest growing fossil fuel and its large reserves make it a popular candidate to meet the insatiable energy demand of the global community. With the Fischer-Tropsch process it is possible to make liquid fuels such as diesel and jet fuel from coal.

[edit] Oil

See also: Oil reserves and Peak oil

It is estimated that there may be 57 ZJ of oil reserves on Earth (although estimates vary from low of 8 ZJ,^[2] consisting of currently proven and recoverable reserves, to a maximum of 110 ZJ^[18] Template:Verify sources) consisting of available, but not necessarily recoverable reserves, and including optimistic estimates for unconventional sources such as tar sands and oil shale. Both estimates provide oil for the foreseeable future at the current oil consumption rate of 0.18 ZJ per year.

There is growing consensus that peak oil production may be reached in the near future, resulting in severe oil price increases. A 2005 French Economics, Industry and Finance Ministry report suggested a worst case scenario that could occur as early as 2013.^[19]

[edit] Sustainability

There is a broad consensus among scientists that we are not close to running out of fossil fuels.^[18] Template:Verify sources^[20][21] Despite this abundance, political considerations over the security of supplies, environmental concerns related to global warming and sustainability might move the world's energy consumption away from fossil fuels.

A government led move away from fossil fuels would most likely create economic pressure through carbon emissions trading and green taxation. Some countries are taking action as a result of the Kyoto Protocol, and further steps in this direction are proposed. For example, the European Commission has proposed that the energy policy of the European Union should set a a binding target of increasing the level of renewable energy in the EU's overall mix from less than 7% today to 20% by 2020.^[22]

[edit] Nuclear power

See also: Nuclear power and Nuclear energy policy

[edit] Nuclear fission

The International Atomic Energy Agency estimates the remaining uranium resources to be equal to 2500 ZJ.^[23] This assumes the use of Breeder reactors which are able to create more fissile material than they consume. IPCC estimated uranium deposits for once-through fuel cycles reactors to be only 17 ZJ but then they go on to say that exploration for uranium is still at its infancy.^[24]

Resources and technology do not constrain the capacity of nuclear power to contribute to meeting the energy demand. However, political and environmental concerns about nuclear safety and radioactive waste started to limit the growth of this energy supply at the end of last century, particularly due to a number of nuclear accidents. Concerns about nuclear proliferation mean that the development of nuclear power by countries such as Iran is being actively discouraged by the international community.

[edit] Nuclear fusion

Fusion power is what powers our sun. It generates large quantities of heat by fusing the nuclei of hydrogen isotopes. The heat can theoretically be harnessed to generate electricity. The temperatures and pressures needed to sustain fusion make it a very difficult process to control and doing so is an unsolved technical challenge. The tantalizing potential of fusion is its theoretical ability to supply vast quantities of energy, with relatively little pollution.^[25] Both the United States and the European Union are supporting a moderate level of fusion-based research.

[edit] Renewable resources

[edit] Solar energy

Renewable energy sources are even larger than the traditional fossil fuels and in theory can easily supply the world's energy needs. 89 PW^[26] of solar energy fall on the planet's surface. While it is not plausible to capture all, or even most, of this energy, capturing less than 0.02% would be enough to meet the current energy needs. Barriers to further solar generation include the high price of silicon used to make solar cells, reliance on weather patterns to generate electricity, a lack of space for solar cells in areas of high demand such as cities and they don't produce electricity during the night. The latter is a particular problem in the high northern and southern lattitude countries as energy demand is highest during the winter while availability of solar energy is lowest.

[edit] Wind power

The available wind energy estimates range from 300 TW to 370 TW.^[27][18] Using the lower estimate, just 5% of the available wind energy would supply the current worldwide energy needs. Most of this wind energy is available over the open ocean. The oceans cover 71% of the planet and wind tends to blow stronger over open water because there are fewer obstructions.

[edit] Wave and tidal power

At the end of 2005, 0.3 GW of electricity was produced by tidal power.^[4] Thanks to the gravitational pull of the moon (68%) and the sun (32%) there is 3 TW of tidal energy available of which approximately 1 percent is practical to exploit. The best site for capturing tidal energy is the much studied Bay of Fundy on the eastern border of the US and Canada. North America's only tidal power station is a 20 MW demonstration unit at the mouth of the Annapolis river in Nova Scotia.^[28]

Waves are derived from wind and wind is derived from solar energy, at each conversion there is approximately two orders drop in available energy.^{[citation needed]} The energy in waves that wash against our shores add up to 3 TW. So any wave powered system has to be well sited and cost effective since there is not that much energy to capture.^[29]

[edit] Geothermal

Estimates of exploitable worldwide geothermal energy resources vary considerably. According to a 1999 study, it was thought that this might amount to between 65 and 138 GW of electrical generation capacity 'using enhanced technology'.^[30]

A 2006 report by MIT that took into account the use of Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS) concluded that it would be affordable to generate 100 GWe (gigawatts of electricity) or more by 2050, just in the United States, for a maximum investment of 1 billion US dollars in research and development over 15 years.^[16]

The MIT report calculated the world's total EGS resources to be over 13 YJ, of which over 200 ZJ would be extractable, with the potential to increase this to over 2 YJ with technology improvements - sufficient to provide all the world's energy needs for several millennia.^[16]

[edit] Alternative energy paths

Whether a significant investment in renewable energy and alternative energy is wise is currently the subject of much discussion. The debate rages between two very entrenched views. The renewable energy camp believes that the risk of global warming and the dependence on sources, such as those in the Middle East, justify a move away from fossil fuels. The other side of the the debate believes, equally sincerely, that a government led switch to renewable energy will force economic dislocation, stifle and reverse economic growth and deny the developing world a path to prosperity.

Japan and Germany have started to make some investments in solar energy. They are now the largest consumers of photovoltaic cells in the world despite their unfavorable geographic locations. Denmark and Germany have installed 3 GW and 17 GW of wind power respectively. In 2005, wind generated 18.5% of all the electricity in Denmark.^[31] Brazil invests in ethanol production from sugar cane which is now a significant part of the transportation fuel in that country. Starting in 1965, France made large investments in nuclear power and to this date three quarters of its electricity comes from nuclear reactors.^[32] Switzerland is planning to cut its energy consumption by more than half to become a 2000 Watt society by 2050 and the United Kingdom is working towards a zero energy building standard for all new housing by 2016. In 2005, the Swedish government announced the oil phase-out in Sweden with the intention to become the first country to break its dependence on fossil fuel by 2020.

In the twenty first century, some of these different energy paths might become more mainstream and start replacing the ubiquitous fossil fuels.

[edit] See also

Energy Portal

• Category:Energy by country
• Carbon emissions by country
• Electricity consumption by country
• Earth's energy budget
• Electricity generation
• Energy use in the United States
• Energy use and conservation in the United Kingdom
• Oil phase-out in Sweden

[edit] Footnotes

[edit] References

• Smil, Vaclav. (2003) Energy at the crossroads MIT Press. ISBN 0-262-19492-9
• Tester, Jefferson W. et al. (2005) Sustainable Energy: Choosing Among Options. The MIT Press. ISBN 0-262-20153-4
• Yergin, Daniel (1993). The Prize. Simon & Schuster: New York. ISBN 0-671-79932-0

[edit] External links

• World Energy Outlook
• Official Energy Statistics from the US government
• Annual Energy Review 2005, DOE/EIA-0384(2006), by the US Energy Information Administration (PDF)
• United States Geological Survey

Sustainability and Development of Energy   Edit Conversion | Development and Use | Sustainable Energy | Conservation | Transportation