In the past few decades, global primary energy consumption has continued to grow. Primary energy consumption increased by 2.5% in 2011, which is about the average level of the past 10 years. The primary energy consumption of different regions (OECD countries and non-OECD countries) is shown in Table 1 and Table 2 (BP Energy Report 2012). In 2011, the global primary energy consumption was 12.274.6 billion tons of oil equivalent. The global energy consumption increased by 16% in the 10 years from 1990 to 2001, but in the next 10 years from 2001 to 2010, the increase doubled. Approximately 30% increase. If you consider it by region, during this period the consumption in North America, Europe and Eurasia is almost unchanged, but the consumption in other regions is increasing. The growth in the Middle East reached 166%, followed by 156% in the Asia-Pacific region, 89% in the central and southern United States, and 70% in Africa. There are many factors leading to the increase in energy consumption, such as the increase in energy consumption in industrial activities, food production, transportation and other industries caused by population growth and accelerated urbanization. In 2011, energy consumption in OECD countries (the richest countries in the world) fell by 0.8%, the first decline in the past four years. The energy consumption of non-OECD countries (mostly developing countries) increased by 5.3%, the same as the average growth rate in the past 10 years. The focus of world energy consumption continues to shift from OECD countries to emerging economies, especially Asian countries. Figure 1 shows the total global energy consumption per capita from 1965 to 2010.
In 2011, the growth rate of global consumption of all fuels decreased, as did the total energy consumption of all regions. Petroleum is still the most important fuel in the world, accounting for 33.1% of global fuel consumption. However, oil has continued to lose market share for 12 consecutive years. Since 1965, its market share has reached its lowest level. Fossil fuels (oil, natural gas, and coal) still dominate energy consumption, accounting for 87% of the market. Globally, the share of renewable energy continues to grow, but now only accounts for 2% of energy consumption. At the same time, the structure of fossil fuel consumption is also changing. Oil, which still dominates, has lost market share for 12 consecutive years. Coal has once again become the fastest-growing fossil fuel, and its impact on carbon emissions is conceivable. The market share of coal reached 30.3%, the highest value since 1969.
Figure 1 lists the per capita energy consumption in all regions. The per capita energy consumption varies from 276 million Btu in North America to 18 million Btu in Africa. As expected, per capita energy consumption in developed countries is the highest. The value of per capita energy consumption in 2001 can be used as a comparison value. In the past 5 years, some regions of the world (such as North America, Europe) have relatively stable per capita energy consumption, some have a slight increase (such as Eurasia and Africa), and other regions have a substantial increase in percentage ( Such as Central and South America and Asia Pacific). Interestingly, we found that regions with larger growth rates include less developed countries that are becoming more industrialized and energy-intensive. In terms of per capita consumption, the United Arab Emirates is the largest energy consumer with a per capita energy consumption of 576 million Btu, followed by Kuwait 471 million Btu, Canada 427 million Btu, the United States 334 million Btu, and Australia 277 million Btu.
