The 2024 edition of the Statistical Review of World Energy was recently published by the Energy Institute. This report was formerly issued by British Petroleum (BP), but the Energy Institute took over the job a few years ago. It is a major report that documents how much and where energy is produced and consumed throughout the world. The latest report includes data for calendar year 2023.
Below are a few highlights from a first look at the data. There is a large amount of information here.
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World consumption of fossil fuels was at an all-time high in 2023. Anyone looking for a peak in fossil fuel production or consumption will need to wait a while longer.
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Oil - Record highs in the production and consumption of petroleum were seen in 2023. Total world consumption is now over 100 million barrels per day.
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Natural gas - World production was at an all-time high in 2023 at 4059 billion cubic meters. Total gas consumption, however, was slightly off its high from 2021, but only by a small amount. Production and consumption in the US were again at all-time highs.
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Coal - World production and consumption of coal were at record highs. Total consumption was at 164 exajoules of energy, of which 56% was consumed in China. Coal consumption in India was up 10% over 2022. Overall, 82% of all mined coal is consumed in the Asia-Pacific region.
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CO2 emissions - Because of the record or near-record highs in fossil fuel consumption, CO2 emissions from energy were also at all-time highs. CO2-equivalents from energy, plus process emissions, methane, and flaring were at 40.4 billion metric tons in 2023. This was a 2.1% increase over 2022.
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Renewables - Energy produced from renewable sources continues to increase world-wide. However, these increases have not resulted in a reduction in overall fossil fuel consumption.
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