Worldwide energy supply

Worldwide energy supply refers to the global production and preparation of fuel, generation of electricity, and energy transport. First contemporary energy supply is outlined, statistical data rather than policy. Energy supply is a vast industry, powering the world economy. More than 10% of the world expenditures is used for energy purposes.^[1]

Short lists of countries are given where most energy is produced^{[note 1]} and where it is consumed, distinguishing fossil, nuclear and renewable energy. Of all produced energy 80% is fossil. Half of that is produced by China, the United States and the Arab states of the Persian Gulf. The Gulf States and Norway export most of their production, largely to the European Union and Japan where not sufficient energy is produced to satisfy their users. Energy production increases slowly, except for solar and wind energy which grows more than 20% per year.

Primary energy sources are transformed by the energy sector to generate energy carriers.

Produced energy, for instance crude oil, must be processed to make it suitable for consumption by end users. So the supply chain between production and final consumption involves many conversion activities and much trade and transport among countries, causing a loss of one third of energy before it is consumed.

Institutions such as the International Energy Agency (IEA) and the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) collect, analyze and publish comprehensive energy data periodically. In the country lists below these data are used.

Worldwide carbon dioxide emission from fuel combustion was 32 gigaton in 2013.^[2] In view of contemporary energy policy of countries the IEA expects^[3] that the worldwide energy consumption in 2040 will have increased 30% and that the goal, set in the Paris Agreement about Climate Change, will not nearly be reached. The IEA concludes that a major reallocation of investment capital in the energy sector is required.

Primary energy production

World total primary energy supply of 155,505 TWh (or 13,371 Mtoe) by fuels in 2012 (IEA, 2014)^[4]

  Oil (31.4%)

  Coal/Peat/Shale (29.0%)

  Natural Gas (21.3%)

  Biofuels and waste (10.0%)

  Nuclear (4.8%)

  Hydro (2.4%)

  Others (Renew.) (1.1%)

This is the worldwide production of energy, extracted or captured directly from natural sources. In energy statistics Primary Energy (PE) refers to the first stage where energy enters the supply chain before any further conversion or transformation process.

Energy sources are usually classified as

• fossil, using coal, lignite, crude oil and natural gas,
• nuclear, using uranium,
• renewable, using hydro power, biomass, wind and solar energy, among others.

Primary energy assessment follows certain rules^{[note 2]} to ease measurement and comparison of different kinds of energy. Due to these rules uranium is not counted as PE but as the natural source of nuclear PE. Similarly water and air flow energy that drives hydro and wind turbines, and sunlight that powers solar panels, are not taken as PE but as PE sources (PES).

The table lists the worldwide PE production and the countries/regions producing most (90%) of that. The amounts are given in million tonnes of oil equivalent per year (1 Mtoe/a = 11.63 TWh/a = 1.327 GW). The data^[5] are of 2013.^{[note 3]}

Two third of the world renewable supply is non-commercial solid biofuel in developing countries.^[6]

The top producers of the USA are Texas 20%, Wyoming 11%, Pennsylvania 8%, W Virginia 5% and Oklahoma 4%.^[7]

The production of the Persian Gulf states consists of Saudi Arabia 614, Iran 298, Qatar 224, Arab Emirates 201, Kuwait 170, Iraq 157 and Oman 76.

The top producers in Africa are Nigeria (256), S-Africa (166) and Algeria (138).

In the EU France (136, mainly nuclear), Germany (120), UK (110), Poland (71, mainly coal) and Netherlands (69, mainly natural gas) produce most.

For more detailed energy production see

• List of countries by electricity production
• List of countries by electricity production from renewable sources
• Nuclear power by country

Trend

From 2012 to 2014 worldwide production increased 3%, nuclear and fossil rose at about the same rate, renewables increased 6%.^{[note 4]}

A small part of the renewables, solar and wind energy, increased much more, 46% in this period^[8] in line with the strong growth since 1990.^[6]

In Brazil windpower inceased 140%, in China not only solar and wind increased fast, 81%, but also nuclear production, 36% from 2012 to 2014.^[8]

From production to final consumption

World total primary energy supply of 155,505 TWh (or 13,371 Mtoe) by region in 2012 (IEA, 2014)^[4]

  OECD (39.2%)

  Middle East (5.1%)

  Non-OECD Europe /Eurasia (8.9%)

  China (21.8%)

  Asia (w/o China) (12.3%)

  Non-OECD Americas (4.6%)

  Africa (5.5%)

  Bunkers (2.6%)

Primary energy is converted in many ways to energy carriers, also known as secondary energy.

• Lignite and coal mainly go to thermal power stations. Coke is derived by destructive distillation of bituminous coal.
• Crude oil goes mainly to oil refineries, and is also used to make petroleum coke.^[9][10]
• Natural-gas goes to natural-gas processing plants to remove contaminants such as water, carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide, and mixed to adjust the heating value. It is used as fuel gas, also in thermal power stations.
• Nuclear reaction heat is used in thermal power stations.
• Biomass is used directly or converted to biofuel.

Electricity generators are driven by

• steam or gas turbines in a thermal plant,
• or water turbines in a hydropower station,
• or wind turbines, stand-alone or in a wind farm.

The invention of the PV cell in 1954 started electricity generation by solar panels, connected to a power inverter. Around 2000 mass production of panels made this economic.

Primary and converted energy is much traded among countries. The tabel lists countries/regions that export most of their energy, followed by countries that must import much for their economies. The quantities are expressed in Mtoe/a and the data^[5] are of 2013.

Big transport goes by tanker ship, tank truck, LNG carrier, rail freight transport, pipeline and by electric power transmission.

Total Primary Energy Supply (TPES) is a term used to indicate the sum of production and imports subtracting exports and storage changes.^[11] For the whole world TPES nearly equals primary energy PE but for countries TPES and PE differ in quantity and quality. Usually secondary energy is involved, e.g., import of an oil refinery product, so TPES is often not PE. P in TPES has not the same meaning as in PE. It refers to energy needed as input to produce some or all energy for end-users.

For TPES per country see List of countries by energy consumption per capita.

32% of primary production is used for conversion and transport, and 6% for non-energy products like lubricants, asphalt and petrochemicals. 62% remains for end-users.

Final consumption

World total final consumption of 104,426 TWh (or 8,979 mega-tonne of oil equivalent) by fuels in 2012 (IEA, 2014)^[4]:28

  Oil (40.7%)

  Coal/Peat/Shale (10.1%)

  Natural Gas (15.2%)

  Biofuels and waste (12.4%)

  Electricity (18.1%)

  Others (Renew.) (3.5%)

This is the worldwide consumption of energy by end-users. This energy consists of fuel (80%) and electricity (20%). The tables list amounts, expressed in million tonnes of oil equivalent per year (1 Mtoe = 11.63 TWh), how much of these is renewable energy, and energy used per person per year in toe/a. Non-energy products are not considered here. The data are of 2013.^[5]

Fuel:

• Fossil: natural gas, fuel derived from petroleum (LPG, gasoline, kerosene, gas/diesel, fuel oil), from coal (anthracite, bituminous coal, coke, blast furnace gas).
• Renewable: biofuel and fuel derived from waste, so far as it is traded.
• District heating.^{[note 5]}

The amounts are based on lower heating value. Electricity:

• See Electric energy consumption (section World electricity consumption) for details, but note that the table there includes also internal consumption of power plants, about 10% of the totals.

The first table lists worldwide final consumption and the countries/regions which use most (83%). In developing countries fuel consumption per person is low and more renewable. Canada, Venezuela and Brazil generate most electricity with hydropower.

In Africa 32 of the 48 nations are declared to be in an energy crisis by the World Bank. See Energy in Africa.

The next table shows countries consuming most (83%) in the European Union, and Norway. The last four countries generate electricity largely renewable.

For more details in Europe see Energy in Germany, Energy in France, etc.

Energy for energy

Some fuel end electricity is used to construct, maintain and demolish/recycle installations that produce fuel and electricity, such as oil platforms, uranium isotope separators and wind turbines. For these producers to be economic the ratio of energy returned on energy invested (EROEI) or energy return on investment (EROI) should be large enough. There is little consensus in the technical literature about methods and results in calculating these ratios, but it is likely that for fuels (fossil and nuclear), hydro power and wind turbines the ratio is at least 10, for solar panels about 7 and for solar collectors (hot water) only 2.^[12] In southern European countries solar EROEI exceeds ten^[13] but more to the North it is less as it takes a greater part of the life time to regain the invested energy,

Outlook until 2040

Based on examination of the Paris Agreement pledges, covering some 190 countries, the IEA expects^[3] that the worldwide energy consumption in 2040 will have increased 30% by industrialising India, Southeast Asia and China. Renewable energy sees the fastest growth, natural gas consumption rises by 50%, oil demand tops by 2040 and coal use will not grow.

With this policy the goal, set in the Paris Agreement, will not nearly be reached according to the IEA. More stringent decarbonisation options examined in the IEA Outlook include the 450 Scenario (450 ppm CO₂ in the air being associated with 2 C warming). In this scenario nearly 60% of the power generated in 2040 comes from renewables, almost half of this from wind and solar PV. The power sector is largely decarbonised. Structural changes to the design and operation of the power system are needed to integrate high shares of variable wind and solar power. This requires a major reallocation of cumulative investment capital in the energy sector, estimated at $40 trillion. By 2040 the share going to fossil fuels drops towards one-third.

See also

• Energy demand management
• Energy industry
  • Environmental impact of the energy industry
• Global warming
• World energy consumption
  • List of countries by total primary energy consumption and production
• For history see articles on the control of fire, extraction of coal and oil, use of wind- and watermills and sailing ships.

Notes

References

Further reading

• Smart Energy Strategies: Meeting the Climate Change Challenge. Wirtschaft, Energie, Umwelt. vdf Hochschulverlag AG. 2008. pp. 79–80. ISBN 978-3-7281-3218-5. Retrieved May 31, 2017.