Energy is critical to modern civilization. But that doesn’t mean that every developed country produces or consumes an equal amount of energy. Far from it.
The global energy landscape is complicated. Primary sources of energy are not evenly distributed. In addition, economic, political, and technological differences between countries affect production and consumption.
In this video, one of our experts will describe some of the basic facts of the modern energy landscape.
Transcript
The Energy Economy – Jim Ladlee – Penn State
Energy is essential to the economies of some of the fastest growing regions around the world. Energy consumption and production trends reflect the special role of energy in the global economy. Looking at a map of the Earth at night tells a story of global per capita energy consumption. Bright cities stand out from their darker rural surroundings. The Nile and Indus River valleys appear to be bright curves through otherwise dark deserts and plains. Energy production also shows up in this perspective on Earth. The bright ring around the Persian Gulf represents not only the people living there near the sea, but also the vast infrastructure of extraction, refining and transportation key to that region’s energy narrative.
Similarly, swaths of light through the otherwise dark south Texas and the upper Midwest mark major shale plays, producing millions of barrels of oil each day. Beyond trends in light at night, one trend that many observe from looking at patterns of energy consumption is the strong relationship between per capita energy consumption and levels of development. Highly developed countries generally consume more energy.
Maps of the Earth and per capita consumption do not tell the full story of Earth’s complicated energy landscape. The world’s energy reserves are generally misaligned with those who use them. The great northern reserves in Russia and Canada and even those in the rapidly developing Middle East are geographically isolated. They are far removed from where the energy is being used. For example, in well-established industrial centers like the United States or in developing economies in sub-Saharan Africa and in southeast Asia. Therefore, crude oil, natural gas, coal and nuclear ores, electricity, refined gasoline and other energy products travel over national borders in vast quantities every day. Keep in mind that our world is a system of interconnected economies, all interacting within one global ecological system. We’re all in this together, whether we like it or not. It is clear that what we do in this industry can have global consequences for economic growth, quality of life and human health.
As the video mentioned, rates of energy production and consumption seem to be closely related to economic activity. This makes sense – pretty much everything that happens in the global economy requires energy. The most obvious examples are manufacturing, transportation, and food production.
The strong link between GDP and energy consumption is seen again and again around the world.
But even the activities that form the foundation of a service economy – computer services, communications, and education, to name a few – require large inputs of energy. Simply trying to stay warm in the winter and cool in the summer has been an ongoing challenge for humanity for centuries, and home heating and cooling still make up a substantial portion of the energy needs of many countries.
Trends in Primary Energy Consumption
Let’s look at a graph of energy consumption trends since 1965. Several countries stand out through the last 50+ years. China has more than doubled its energy consumption since 2004. In 2008, China surpassed Europe, and then in 2009, it took the lead from the United States as the world’s largest energy consumer.
Trends in energy consumption also reflect economic situations. A look at United States energy consumption shows the effects of the 2008 recession: Energy consumption decreased as the GDP shrank. This graph also highlights the very poor economic situation in the 1980s right before the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Energy consumption has increased in many countries as a result of economic development and population growth. Saudi Arabia and Indonesia doubled their primary energy consumption in the last twenty years. And India almost tripled its consumption during that same time period. The continent of Africa almost doubled its consumption in the last two decades as a result of new developments in industry and manufacturing.
Citations
Images: “New York Manhattan Skyline at Night 02” by Daniel Mennerich via Flickr licensed under CC BY NC ND 2.0