A picture tells a thousand words

November 14, 2013

The International Energy Agency (IEA) has published a report on world energy demand by 2035. The Economist has produced a graphic which summarizes the report.

The graphic shows a few surprises:

• OECD energy demand is flat for the period 2011-2035. Indeed Japan and Europe will see reduced demands for energy.
• China’s energy demand exceeds the US now. China will account for 40% of the growth until 2025. After then India will overtake it to become the single biggest source of increasing demand.
• The fastest growing energy source worldwide in the past 15 years has been coal ! (the dirtiest fuel). Coal is a more important fuel source than natural gas.
• Hydro is the slowest growing fuel source and is only half as important as nuclear energy.
• South-east Asia is the fastest growing area for energy demand.
• Oil will remain the largest single source of energy, though total energy consumption will decline from 31% to 27% by 2035.

The units used in the graphic are billions of tonnes of oil equivalent.

 

Commentary

One can see where the economic driver for west coast energy exports is coming from by considering this big picture graphic.

Sources

• a)http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2013/11/power-surges/