New Report Finds Energy Use Surging, While Green Transition Sags

LONDON — Global energy consumption, fueled for the most part by fossil fuels, surged to an all-time high in 2023, according to a new report from the London-based nonprofit Energy Institute.

The numbers contained in the 73rd annual edition of the Statistical Review of World Energy present for the first time, full global energy data for last year.

The authors, including researchers for the institute, global accounting giant KPMG, and the world-wide management consulting firm Kearney, said they tell a sobering story.

The first takeaway is that global energy consumption is surging with the use of oil and coal reaching record levels along with their emissions.

Overall, global primary energy consumption was up 2% in 2023 over the previous year, reaching 620 exajoules.

At the same time, global consumption of fossil fuels also reached a record high, up 1.5% to 505 exajoules.

Broken down to particulars, consumption of coal was up 1.6% in 2023, while oil was up 2%, topping 100 million barrels for the first time. In the meantime, the use of gas remained flat.

Combined they represented 81.5% of the world’s energy mix, a slight tick down from 2022’s 82%.

Emissions from all this fossil fuel use increased by 2%, exceeding 40 gigatons of CO2 for the first time.

On the renewables front, solar and wind power pushed renewable energy generation to a record high.

Renewable generation, excluding hydro, was up 13% to a record high of 4,748 TWh, the authors found.

This growth was driven almost entirely by increasingly competitive wind and solar energy, and accounted for 74% of all net additional electricity generated.

As a share of primary energy use, renewables (excluding hydro) were at 8%, or 15% including hydro.

“The progress of the transition is slow, but the big picture masks diverse energy stories playing out across different geographies,” said Energy Institute Chief Executive Nick Wayth.

“In advanced economies we observe signs of demand for fossil fuels peaking, contrasting with economies in the global south for whom economic development and improvements in quality of life continue to drive fossil growth,” he said.

The ongoing war in Ukraine cemented a rebalancing of the gas sector in Europe in 2023.

European gas demand fell by 7% following a fall of 13% the previous year, the authors said.

Russia’s share of EU gas imports fell to 15%, down from 45% in 2021, with LNG imports outflanking piped gas to Europe for a second year in a row.

Despite the overall surge in the use of fossil fuels in 2023, the authors of the report said they believe dependence on oil and coal in major advanced economies is likely to have peaked.

In Europe, they noted, fossil fuel fell to below 70% of primary energy for the first time since the Industrial Revolution. They attributed this to a combination of demand reduction and the growth in usage of renewable energy.

At the same time, U.S. consumption of fossil fuels fell to 80% of total primary energy consumed.

According to the authors, it’s the less-developed economies that have struggled to curb fossil fuel growth.

In India, for instance, fossil fuel consumption was up 8%, accounting for almost all demand growth, and stood at an 89% share of overall consumption.

For the first time on record, the authors said, more coal was used in India than Europe and North America combined.

In Africa, primary energy consumption fell in 2023 by 0.5%. Fossil fuels accounted for 90% of overall energy consumption, with renewables (excluding hydro) at only 6% of electricity.

China saw fossil fuel use increase to a new high, up 6%, but as a share of primary energy it has been in decline since 2011, down to 81.6% in 2023. 

China also added 55% of all renewable generation additions in 2023 — more than the rest of the world combined. 

“In a year where we have seen the contribution of renewables reaching a new record high, ever increasing global energy demand means the share coming from fossil fuels has remained virtually unchanged at just over 80% for yet another year,” said Simon Virley, vice chair and head of Energy and Natural Resources at KPMG in the United Kingdom.

“With CO2 emissions also reaching record levels, it’s time to redouble our efforts on reducing carbon emissions and providing finance and capacity to build more low-carbon energy sources in the global south where demand is growing at a rapid pace,” Virley said.

Dan can be reached at [email protected] and @DanMcCue