Visualizing Global Energy Data From 1965 to 2018
Analysis of energy production from renewable and non-renewable sources across the world between the period of 1965 and 2018.
The following energy production visualisations have been produced by the Ekoru data analysis team. Ekoru is a environmentally focused search engine that allows users to help clean and reforest the ocean with every search. 60% of Ekoru search revenue goes to partners involved in ocean reforestation and cleanup.
The BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2019 was used as the source for energy data.
United Nations Statistics National Accounts was used as the source for manufacturing data.
“How Far Has China’s Urbanization Gone?” by Xiao et al 2018 was used for China urbanisation data.
Race charts were produced with Flourish Studio with additional offline video editing and conversion.
Summary of Global Energy Output
Despite increased investments in solar and hydro energy there is still a global reliance on coal, gas, and nuclear. While hydro has traditionally been a large energy contributor, the construction of some hydro plants which dam or alter the flow of rivers cause adverse environmental impacts.
The growth of wind and solar has grown rapidly compared to other sources in percentage terms but still represents a small portion of overall power generation worldwide. Solar may have grown by 4,532% in a single decade but only generated 585 terawatt hours compared to coal which grew by 22% and generated 10,101 terawatt hours.
While growth in solar capacity appears to be impressive from 2010, it’s important to note that it has begun from a near zero starting point.
Despite the growth in investment on solar and wind, outputs from coal and gas have not been impacted and continue to grow. Solar and wind may be supplementing power but are not replacing or reducing reliance on fossil fuel energy.
The chart below provides a summary of the analysis. China dominates energy production in the majority of categories and as such warrants additional attention.
China’s demand for energy in all categories surged from 2000 onwards due to a combination of increased urbanisation as citizens move from rural areas into cities and increased manufacturing output.
58.52% of China’s population was urbanised as of 2018, compared to a global average of 54.74% (Xiao et al 2018). China is also responsible for 28.77% of global manufacturing output (United Nations Statistics National Accounts) making it the country with the largest manufacturing output.
Taking into account China’s scale of energy demand it is no surprise that they lead in almost every energy category. As global manufacturing continues to be centralised in China, its demand for energy will increase.
Despite leading in wind and solar energy it’s clear that China has a reliance on coal for energy production. A rate of investment into renewable energy sources that exceeds the growth of its energy consumption is crucial in reducing overall CO2 emissions.
However, China’s hydro-electric expansion has seen the damming of the Mekong River at it’s source creating negative environmental and economic outcomes for downstream countries Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam (South China Morning Post).
CO2 Emissions From Fossil Fuel Consumption Annually
- China is the largest emitter of CO2 for 2018 accounting for 27.82% of global CO2 emissions
- China has 83.25% higher CO2 emissions for 2018 than the next country USA
Cumulative CO2 Emissions From Fossil Fuel Consumption
- USA is the largest cumulative emitter of CO2 since 1965 accounting for 22.27% of CO2 emissions
- USA has 35.68% higher cumulative CO2 emissions since 1965 than the next country China
Energy Generation From 1985 to 2018
- China is the largest producer of energy worldwide with 26.72% of the global total in 2018
- China produced 59.42% more energy in 2018 than the next country USA
Per Capita Consumption of Primary Energy for Generation of Electricity from 1965 to 2018
- Qatar consumes 549.65% more energy per capita than the global average of 115.4 Gigajoules.
- Qatar consumes 7.65% more energy capita than the next nearest country Iceland.
Renewable Energy Generated From 1965 to 2018
Excludes hydro-power
- China is the largest producer of renewable energy worldwide with 24.4% of the global total in 2018
- China produces 38.31% more renewable energy than the next nearest country USA.
Energy Generated by Source From 1985 to 2018
- Coal is the largest source of energy with 38.17% of the global total in 2018
- Coal energy generation is 63.36% higher than next highest source Gas
Hydro Energy Generated From 1965 to 2018
- China is the largest producer of hydro energy worldwide with 28.67% of the global total in 2018
- China produces 210.15% more hydro energy than the next country Brazil.
Wind Energy Generated From 1980 to 2018
- China is the largest producer of wind energy worldwide with 28.82% of the global total in 2018
- China produces 31.78% more wind energy than the next country USA.
Geo, Bio, and Other Energy Generated From 1965 to 2018
- China is the largest producer of Geo, Bio, and Other energy worldwide with 28.82% of the global total in 2018
- China produces 8.41% more Geo, Bio, and Other energy than the next country USA.
Solar Energy Generated From 1983 to 2018
- China is the largest producer of Solar energy worldwide with 30.36% of the global total in 2018
- China produced 82.76% more Solar energy than the next country USA in 2018.
Coal Energy Generated From 1985 to 2018
- China is the largest producer of Coal energy worldwide with 46.85% of the global total in 2018
- China produced 279.88% more Coal energy than the next country USA in 2018.
Gas Energy Generated From 1985 to 2018
- USA is the largest producer of Gas energy worldwide with 25.53% of global total in 2018
- USA produced 202.69% more Gas energy than the next country Russia in 2018.
Nuclear Energy Generated From 1965 to 2018
- USA is the largest producer of Nuclear energy worldwide with 31.45% of global total in 2018
- USA produced 105.62% more Nuclear energy than the next country France in 2018.
- Japan’s nuclear power output reduced drastically after 2011 Fukushima Daiichi disaster
Oil Energy Generated From 1985 to 2018
- Saudi Arabia is the largest producer of Oil energy worldwide with 18.76% of the global total in 2018
- Saudi Arabia produced 10.98% more Oil energy than the next country segment “Other Middle East” in 2018.
