For more than 121 years, people have not changed their base energy to waste. At least in broad strokes, that is what is observed in the article by Truman Du, who uses information about “Our world in data”. By the end of 2021, almost 80% (fully 77%) of the energy used throughout the planet will come from oil, coal and gas.
The author lists that between 1900 and 2021 the world will be supplied from the same sources: coal and oil. Although these energies only gained strength up to the mid-1950s, from then on they prevailed together with coal as the main source of energy.
In 1900, in 12,131 terawatt hours (Twh) consumed, coal contributed 5,728 Twh, that is, more than 47% of the total. Oil, however, gave 181 Twh, almost 1.5% of what was then consumed.
As of 2000, coal had a share of 22.34%, while oil had already risen to 35%. Another major competitor in that year was gas (also fossil fuel), which accounted for 19.5% of consumption. In the new millennium, people used approximately 122,745 Twh, and respectively generated shares of 27,428 Twh, 47,895 Twh and 23,994 Twh.
Despite efforts to change this dependence, the 2021 measurements did not show a major change. There he calls for future energies such as solar, wind, nuclear and those arising from water sources, which do not mean much in terms of consumption.
Only 2,702 Twh of 176,430 Twh of solar energy was consumed. This is less than 1.53% (same as oil in 1900). Wind did the same with 4,872 Twh (2.76%), nuclear 7,031 (3.98%) and hydro 11,183, which was equivalent to 6.33% of consumption.
On the other hand, oil and coal contributed respectively to 51,170 and 44,473 Twh. Between the two, the contribution is 54.21%.
Even with the Paris Agreement, fossil fuels will not stop growing
In the midst of the energy crisis that is sweeping Europe after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the world is turning to find out how the production of different means of energy generation has been and who has benefited the most.
This was done by 911 Metallurgist, a company in the metals sector that provides a breakdown of world energy production (fossil, nuclear and renewable) showing which countries have used the most fuel since 1980.
When many countries are treated, it has become, at least according to the information provided, China and the United States leading the world production from 1980 to the present day, when both went from 18.94 quadrillion British Thermal Units (BTU for production figures. in English) and 58.98 quadrillion BTUs, to more than 102.21 quadrillion BTUs and 81.35 quadrillion BTUs respectively.
According to experts, once the data is seen, it is worrying that after 2015, once the Paris Agreement was signed, there is no country, region or continent that has reduced its energy production from fossil fuels to a large extent.
In this sense, it is worth clarifying that a BTU unit is the equivalent amount of heat needed to heat one cup (500 milliliters) of water at one degree Fahrenheit. Likewise, the quadrillion, the unit in which the measurement is made, means adding 24 digits after the comma.
Forty years ago, in 1980, the second largest producer after the United States was ‘the rest of Europe’, which produced 23.22 quadrillion BTUs. This is one of the few cases where this figure has been determined today, which reached 20.92 quadrillion BTUs in 2019.
In South America, by 1980 the continent produced only 9.31 quadrillion BTUs, plus seven units less than 16.56 quadrillion BTUs were produced from Africa. Today, that difference has widened as both continents have also advanced in production.
Currently, South America produces about 20.38 quadrillion BTUs, while Africa produces 32.59 quadrillion BTUs. Russia, for its part, entered the paper once it ceased to exist in the Soviet Union in 1991, when production data showed 47.15 quadrillion BTUs.
After China and the United States of America, today Russia, with a production of 60.43 quadrillion BTUs, is the third largest producer of fossil energy in the world.
