Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Table 1.4
World Primary Energy Consumption Excluding Biomass and
Others
In PJ
1925
1938
1950
1960
1968
1980
2002
Solid fuels
a
36,039
37,856
46,675
58,541
67,830
77,118 100,395
Liquid fuels
b
5772
11,017
21,155
43,921
79,169 117,112 147,480
Natural gas
1406
2930
7384
17,961
33,900
53,736
95,543
Hydro-electric
power
c
771
1774
3316
6632
10,179
16,732
24,792
Nuclear power
c
0
0
0
0
463
6476
25,564
Total
43,988
53,577
78,530 127,055
191,541 271,174 393,773
Note:
a Hard coal, lignite, etc.; b oil products; c converted on the basis of thermal equivalence
assuming 38 per cent conversion efficiency
Source:
Enquete-Kommission, 1995; BP, 2003
The global energy demand will continue to increase in the foreseeable
future. It is anticipated that the increase in the industrialized nations will be
lower than in developing countries, which are nonetheless catching up with
the industrialized world. Furthermore, the world population is set to grow in
the next few decades. Studies predict that by 2050 the energy demand will
increase by a factor of 2.3 to 4 compared to 1990 (IPCC, 2000) (see also Table
1.17). This will intensify the problems of today's already high energy
consumption and its consequences, such as the greenhouse effect and the rapid
depletion of fossil energy resources.
The energy demand of the continents is totally different as shown in Figure
1.5. The primary energy demand of Europe, Asia and the US is certainly of the
same order of magnitude. However, the population in Asia is six times that of
Europe and ten times higher than that of the US. Today, the highly populated
Africa
13.1 EJ
Europe and
former SU
131.1 EJ
North
America
121.2 EJ
Australia and
New Zealand
6.0 EJ
Central and
South America
22.1 EJ
Asia
131.8 EJ
Source:
DOE, 2003
Figure 1.5
World Primary Energy Demand by Region in 2001
