Context

The IEA’s second Global Energy and CO2 Status Report released in March 2019 provides a snapshot of recent global trends and developments across fuels, renewable sources, and energy efficiency and carbon emissions, in 2018.

About

Global Trends

• Energy consumption worldwide grew by 2.3% in 2018, nearly twice the average rate of growth since 2010, driven by a robust global economy as well as higher heating and cooling needs in some parts of the world.
• As a result of higher energy consumption, CO2 emissions rose 1.7% in 2018 and hit a new record.
• The biggest gains came from natural gas, which emerged as the fuel of choice last year, accounting for nearly 45% of the increase in total energy demand.
• Demand for all fuels rose, with fossil fuels meeting nearly 70% of the growth for the second year running.
• Renewables (gas, solar and wind) grew at double-digit pace, but still not fast enough to meet the increase in demand for electricity around the world.
• As a result of higher energy consumption, global energy-related CO2 emissions increased to 33.1 Gt CO2, up.
• Coal-fired power generation continues to be the single largest emitter, accounting for 30% of all energy-related carbon dioxide emissions.
• Higher energy demand was propelled by a global economy that expanded by 3.7% in 2018, a higher pace than the average annual growth of 3.5% seen since 2010.
• China, the United States, and India together accounted for nearly 70% of the rise in energy demand.
• The United States had the largest increase in oil and gas demand worldwide. Gas consumption jumped 10% from the previous year, the fastest increase since the beginning of IEA records in 1971.
• Weather conditions last year were also responsible for almost a fifth of the increase in global energy demand as average winter and summer temperatures in some regions approached or exceeded historical records.
• Cold snaps drove demand for heating and, more significantly, hotter summer temperatures pushed up demand for cooling.

Trends by technology

• Global gas demand expanded at its fastest rate since 2010, with year-on-year growth of 4.6%. Oil demand grew 1.3% and coal consumption rose 0.7%. Oil and coal together accounted for a quarter of global demand growth.
• Renewables, which grew by over 4%, met around one-quarter of the growth in total primary energy demand.
• This was largely due to expansion in electricity generation, where renewables accounted for 45% of the growth in 2018.

India

• India emitted 2,299 million tonnes of carbon dioxide in 2018, a 4.8% rise from last year.
• India’s emissions growth in 2018 was higher than that of the United States and China — the two biggest emitters in the world
• India’s per capita emissions were about 40% of the global average and contributed 7% to the global carbon dioxide burden.
• India saw primary energy demand increase 4% or over 35 Mtoe (million tonnes of oil equivalent), accounting for 11% of global growth, the third-largest share.
• Growth in India was led by coal (for power generation) and oil (for transport), the first and second biggest contributors to energy demand growth, respectively.
• India’s energy intensity improvement declined 3% from last year even as its renewable energy installations increased 10.6% from last year.
  
  

  International Energy Agency Founded in 1974, the IEA was initially designed to help countries co-ordinate a collective response to major disruptions in the supply of oil, such as the crisis of 1973. While this remains a key aspect of its work, the IEA has evolved and expanded significantly. It is at the heart of global dialogue on energy, providing authoritative analysis through a wide range of publications, including the flagship World Energy Outlook and the IEA Market Reports; data and statistics. The four main areas of IEA focus are: Energy Security, Economic Development Environmental Awareness: and Engagement Worldwide. India is not a member of IEA.