Released June 21, 2024 | SUGAR LAND
en
Written by John Egan for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Amid a punishing heat dome that is making life miserable for an estimated 77 million people in the U.S., and after 2023 was certified the planet's hottest year on record, the Energy Institute (London, England) on June 20 released its annual statistical review of world energy for 2023. From a climate perspective, the news was not good.
Global temperatures rose about 1.5 degrees Celsius last year over pre-industrial times, speakers at the Energy Institute press conference said. The Paris Agreement of 2015 sought to limit long-term global average temperature gain to 1.5 degrees C, possibly 2 degrees C. Climate scientists have predicted that long-term average temperature gains beyond about 2 degrees C would trigger catastrophic events that would make large parts of the world uninhabitable.
Increased worldwide use of coal and other hydrocarbons in 2023 pushed up carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from the energy sector to more than 40 gigatonnes, a record, said the report, which was produced in collaboration with consultants KPMG (Amstelveen, Netherlands) and Kearney (Chicago, Illinois).
Overall global primary energy consumption rose about 2% in 2023, to a record 620 exajoules (EJ). Last year, the world consumed an estimated 196 EJ of coal, roughly 32% of all primary energy consumed, said the report, 2024 Statistical Review of World Energy.
For context, last year the world used about 164 EJ of natural gas and approximately 144 EJ of oil, the report noted. Use of gas accounted for about 26% of primary energy consumption last year while oil accounted for approximately 23%.
Click on the images at right to see worldwide primary energy consumption in 2023, in EJ, and each fuel's share of the primary energy use that year.
"With demand for natural gas, a relatively low carbon-intensive fossil fuel, remaining flat (in 2023), the increased use of more carbon-intensive oil and coal meant that energy-related greenhouse gas emissions also reached a record high, exceeding 40 gigatonnes of CO2 equivalent for the very first time," the report said. "CO2 emissions from the combustion of fossil fuels is by far the largest source of energy-related greenhouse gas emissions contributing, around 87% of the total."
As has been the case for decades, the industrializing economies of Asia increased their consumption of coal in 2023 while demand continued to decline in the U.S., Europe and the rest of the world.
Click on the image at right to see a graphic on coal consumption by different regions of the world for the last 50-plus years.
China used an estimated 92 EJ of coal last year while Indian demand hit about 22 EJ, the report said, far exceeding the use of coal in the U.S. (8.2 EJ) and Europe (8.39 EJ). On a percentage basis, Chinese year-over-year demand for coal shot up 56% in 2023 while Indian use rose 13.4%, the report added.
"Asia continues to dominate global coal mining project spending accounting for 80% of the activity that we are monitoring," says Joe Govreau, Vice President Research Metals & Minerals for Industrial Info. "Right now there is about $230 billion worth of projects with China (61%) and India (13%) leading the way." Govreau was not part of the Energy Insights report release press conference.
The Energy Insights report noted, "The progress of the (energy) transition is slow, but the big picture masks diverse energy stories playing out across different geographies." In advanced economies, there are signs that fossil fuel use is peaking, but industrializing economies continue to use fossil fuels to achieve economic development and improvements in quality of life.
The Energy Insights report, like others before it, makes clear that corralling rising temperatures depends on lowering carbon emissions in industrializing economies.
But that reality was not directly expressed by speakers at the June 20 report launch event. Indeed, given current political sensitivities around "energy equity," it would have been awkward for five white speakers at the Energy Insights launch event to be seen as telling people of color in the industrializing world how to build their economies. One could easily imagine the charge of "energy colonialism" being leveled at those speakers by residents of Asian countries.
Indeed, in a nod to the vast disparities in quality of life between those in advanced and advancing economies, the report noted that about 745 million people around the world lack access to electricity. Around 2.6 billion people globally rely on heavily polluting biomass fuels such as charcoal, coal and animal waste for heating and cooking. Energy use per capita is far higher in the U.S. and Europe compared to China and other industrializing nations.
Two speakers said that applying mandatory and consistent carbon taxes across countries would be one way to attract capital by including the environmental costs of energy use in energy prices. But that's a far cry from where the world is today. The report has a section on carbon taxes that shows how far apart countries are on this front. First, the U.S. has no national carbon market, and aside from many energy economists, there is no national appetite for enacting a carbon tax. The same is broadly true in the developing economies of Asia.
In two U.S. "compliance" markets, prices per ton of CO2 emitted in 2023 ranged from a low of $13.42 in the East Coast states covered by the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative to $63.53 in California's carbon allowance market. In two "compliance" regimes in Europe--the U.K. and the EU--carbon prices ranged from $65.53 to $85.27 per ton. In "voluntary" markets, prices had an even broader spread: from $1.41 to $129.72 per ton.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) platform helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking over 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 Trillion (USD).
Global temperatures rose about 1.5 degrees Celsius last year over pre-industrial times, speakers at the Energy Institute press conference said. The Paris Agreement of 2015 sought to limit long-term global average temperature gain to 1.5 degrees C, possibly 2 degrees C. Climate scientists have predicted that long-term average temperature gains beyond about 2 degrees C would trigger catastrophic events that would make large parts of the world uninhabitable.
Increased worldwide use of coal and other hydrocarbons in 2023 pushed up carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from the energy sector to more than 40 gigatonnes, a record, said the report, which was produced in collaboration with consultants KPMG (Amstelveen, Netherlands) and Kearney (Chicago, Illinois).
Overall global primary energy consumption rose about 2% in 2023, to a record 620 exajoules (EJ). Last year, the world consumed an estimated 196 EJ of coal, roughly 32% of all primary energy consumed, said the report, 2024 Statistical Review of World Energy.
For context, last year the world used about 164 EJ of natural gas and approximately 144 EJ of oil, the report noted. Use of gas accounted for about 26% of primary energy consumption last year while oil accounted for approximately 23%.
"With demand for natural gas, a relatively low carbon-intensive fossil fuel, remaining flat (in 2023), the increased use of more carbon-intensive oil and coal meant that energy-related greenhouse gas emissions also reached a record high, exceeding 40 gigatonnes of CO2 equivalent for the very first time," the report said. "CO2 emissions from the combustion of fossil fuels is by far the largest source of energy-related greenhouse gas emissions contributing, around 87% of the total."
As has been the case for decades, the industrializing economies of Asia increased their consumption of coal in 2023 while demand continued to decline in the U.S., Europe and the rest of the world.
China used an estimated 92 EJ of coal last year while Indian demand hit about 22 EJ, the report said, far exceeding the use of coal in the U.S. (8.2 EJ) and Europe (8.39 EJ). On a percentage basis, Chinese year-over-year demand for coal shot up 56% in 2023 while Indian use rose 13.4%, the report added.
"Asia continues to dominate global coal mining project spending accounting for 80% of the activity that we are monitoring," says Joe Govreau, Vice President Research Metals & Minerals for Industrial Info. "Right now there is about $230 billion worth of projects with China (61%) and India (13%) leading the way." Govreau was not part of the Energy Insights report release press conference.
The Energy Insights report noted, "The progress of the (energy) transition is slow, but the big picture masks diverse energy stories playing out across different geographies." In advanced economies, there are signs that fossil fuel use is peaking, but industrializing economies continue to use fossil fuels to achieve economic development and improvements in quality of life.
The Energy Insights report, like others before it, makes clear that corralling rising temperatures depends on lowering carbon emissions in industrializing economies.
But that reality was not directly expressed by speakers at the June 20 report launch event. Indeed, given current political sensitivities around "energy equity," it would have been awkward for five white speakers at the Energy Insights launch event to be seen as telling people of color in the industrializing world how to build their economies. One could easily imagine the charge of "energy colonialism" being leveled at those speakers by residents of Asian countries.
Indeed, in a nod to the vast disparities in quality of life between those in advanced and advancing economies, the report noted that about 745 million people around the world lack access to electricity. Around 2.6 billion people globally rely on heavily polluting biomass fuels such as charcoal, coal and animal waste for heating and cooking. Energy use per capita is far higher in the U.S. and Europe compared to China and other industrializing nations.
Two speakers said that applying mandatory and consistent carbon taxes across countries would be one way to attract capital by including the environmental costs of energy use in energy prices. But that's a far cry from where the world is today. The report has a section on carbon taxes that shows how far apart countries are on this front. First, the U.S. has no national carbon market, and aside from many energy economists, there is no national appetite for enacting a carbon tax. The same is broadly true in the developing economies of Asia.
In two U.S. "compliance" markets, prices per ton of CO2 emitted in 2023 ranged from a low of $13.42 in the East Coast states covered by the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative to $63.53 in California's carbon allowance market. In two "compliance" regimes in Europe--the U.K. and the EU--carbon prices ranged from $65.53 to $85.27 per ton. In "voluntary" markets, prices had an even broader spread: from $1.41 to $129.72 per ton.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) platform helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking over 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 Trillion (USD).
