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Sunday, January 30, 2011

World Energy Consumption by Fuel

For all the stories about renewable energy these past few years (the "lost decade"), and then all the stories about coal-powered cars this past year, one would get the impression that ten years' worth of subsidies, grants, and tax breaks for the renewable energy business (wind and solar) has resulted in great strides.

For a look at the raw data compiled for the years 1965 - 2009, click on statistical review of world energy, 2010.

Near the top, on the left side is a downloadable Excel spreadsheet that breaks out energy consumption for those years by type of energy.

The amount of energy generated worldwide, including the US, was so low that it was either unmeasurable or it was a rounding error. The sources of energy measured were: oil, natural gas, coal, nuclear energy and hydroelectric power.

For the most recent year in which data is available, 2009, the amount of energy used, in million tonnes of oil equivalent, this is the breakdown (figures rounded):
  • Oil: 843 (39 percent)
  • Natural gas: 589 (27 percent)
  • Coal: 498 (23 percent)
  • Nuclear energy: 190 (9 percent)
  • Hydroelectric: 62 (3 percent)
  • Total: 2,182 million tonnes of oil equivalent
On other spreadsheets at that site, data on renewable energy is provided, but it is only a percentage of each country's contribution to worldwide use. For example, Germany has 44 percent of the world's installed wind capacity.

But 44 percent of zero is still zero.

Again, don't confuse facts with investing. Wall Street and individual investors can still make a lot of money by investing in renewable energy companies. It's just that it will be a very long time before renewable energy makes a statistical difference in energy consumption/production around the world.

[Note: that last paragraph is an opinion, not advice. I am not advising readers to invest or not invest in renewable energy.]

And, of course we've all seen how the "green energy" revolution helped Spain.

2 comments:

  1. there is still value in coal judging by the 8+ Billion dollar purchase of Massey energy by Alpha Natural..Coal in moy opinion will be a integral part of energy for the next 200 years.. we will use coal differently then today, but we the energy users of the world will still use coal.
    Forbes has a article on this buyout.

    http://blogs.forbes.com/heatherstruck/2011/01/30/massey-energy-agrees-to-8-5-billion-alpha-acquisition/?partner=yahootix

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  2. I wonder if this might not be the key:

    " ... the companies’ metallurgical coal businesses to form one of the largest suppliers of coal for industrial, manufacturing and steel demand in the world."

    Rather, than using coal for utility-generated electricity.

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