Highlights of a Worldwatch Institute report
- Alhough oil remains the
world's leading source of energy, the energy landscape is rapidly
shifting: global consumption of coal increased 5.4 percent in 2011, while
natural gas use grew 2.2 percent.
- China alone accounted
for nearly half of global coal consumption in 2011. In the United States,
demand for coal actually declined by 5 percent.
- Natural gas is growing
most significantly in East Asia, led by China and Japan.
Oil remains the world's leading energy source - for now. In
recent years, coal and natural gas have proven themselves increasingly
important resources across the globe. Global consumption of coal increased 5.4
percent in 2011, to 3.72 billion tons of oil equivalent, while natural gas use
grew 2.2 percent, to 2.91 billion tons of oil equivalent. Both are primary
fuels for the world’s electricity market, and because they are often used as
substitutes for one other, their trends need to be examined together.
The bulk of coal use is for power generation, with smaller
amounts being used in steelmaking. Spurred mainly by rising demand in China and
India, coal’s share in the global primary energy mix reached 28 percent in
2011—its highest point since the International Energy Agency began keeping
statistics in 1971. Although the United States remains one of the world’s
largest coal users, just over 70 percent of global demand in 2011 was in
countries outside of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
(OECD), including China and India. Consumption in non-OECD countries grew 8
percent in 2011 to 2.63 billion tons of oil equivalent.
China alone accounted for nearly half of all coal use in
2011. India is the second largest contributor to rising coal demand and is the
world’s third largest coal consumer, after surpassing the European Union in
2009. The United States remains the second largest coal user, even though U.S.
demand decreased by around 5 percent in 2011 and continued to fall in 2012 due
to the shale gas boom and the abundance of cheap natural gas. Even with declining
demand, the United States still accounts for 45 percent of coal demand within
the OECD.
Coal production, like consumption, is concentrated mainly in
China. But the United States holds the largest proved coal reserves, with 28
percent of the global total, followed by Russia at 18 percent, China at 13
percent, Australia at 9 percent, and India at 7 percent. Together, these five
countries accounted for three-quarters of proved coal reserves as well as
three-quarters of global coal production in 2011.
In the case of natural gas, global consumption grew at a
slower rate than coal—2.2 percent—to reach 2.91 billion tons of oil equivalent
in 2011. Usage grew in all regions except the European Union, which experienced
a 9.9 percent decline in natural gas consumption—the largest on record and due
mainly to a struggling economy and high natural gas prices.
Natural gas accounted for nearly 23.7 percent of global
primary energy consumption in 2011, down slightly from 23.8 percent in 2010.
Consumption increased most significantly in East Asia, led by China (21.5
percent) and Japan (11.6 percent).
Natural gas production increased at a higher rate than
consumption—3.1 percent—reaching 2.96 billion tons of oil equivalent in 2011.
The United States and Russia accounted for nearly 40 percent of the world’s
output in 2011, contributing 20 percent and 18.5 percent, respectively,
followed by Canada, Iran, and Qatar at 4–5 percent each.
Continued strong growth in the global coal and natural gas
sectors depends on numerous factors. Demand for coal could stagnate with the
introduction of new technologies in the power sector, or with the adoption of
policies to reduce the environmental and health impacts of coal combustion.
Increasing global concern about greenhouse gas emissions and climate change
could lead to a greater transition from coal to natural gas. Other factors that
could change the equation include rising environmental and other concerns about
hydraulic fracturing (or “fracking”) and the possibility that cheap natural gas
might undermine growth in renewable energy.
Authors - Matt Lucky & Reese Rogers
Source: http://www.worldwatch.org/node/12233
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