This June, BP released their 63rd Statistical Review of World Energy. The review breaks down the most common sources energy used everywhere in the world by country, addressing production, consumption and pricing.
The energy sources addressed in this year’s review are oil, natural gas, coal, nuclear energy, hydroelectricity and renewable energy. I could fill up this whole newspaper discussing and debating the details of the review. Though this is tempting, I will keep this (relatively) short and sweet by giving you the highlights of the review for each energy source.
Oil
While oil is still one of the go-to sources of energy all around the globe, interestingly world oil production increased by about 560,000 b/d (barrels per day), less than half of the growth of global consumption (1.4 million b/d). This indicates that production did not keep up with consumption this year. The United States reported the largest growth in oil production at 1.1 million b/d. As expected with increased production, U.S. imports decreased this year by 1.4 million b/d. These numbers suggest that the U.S. is becoming less and less dependent on imports to meet their consumption needs; a warning sign for Canada that it will need to diversify its energy market trading partners. Further to that point China (surprise, surprise) had the world’s largest amount of oil imported at about 7 million b/d.
Natural Gas
Natural gas is becoming a popular energy source in North America, particularly in the United States where hydraulic fracturing (or fracking) and horizontal drilling have become staples in natural gas extraction from porous rock formations. Like oil, world natural gas consumption grew by 1.4% whereas production increased by only 1.1%. The United States remains the world’s leading natural gas producer, accounting for 20.6% of total world natural gas production. As a comparison, Canada accounts for only 4.6%. Natural gas is an interesting resource, as it does burn cleaner than conventional oil-based energy and coal thereby making it a viable replacement. Natural gas consumption in North America rose by 2.7% from last year; again most of this coming from the United States. It seems logical to expect this number to continue rising, as natural gas exploration continues in the United States. Canada has been trying to follow suit, with explorations underway in Western Canada as well as New Brunswick and Newfoundland.
Coal
Unfortunately for the environment, coal is still the fastest-growing resource in terms of global consumption. Worldwide, coal consumption grew by 3% this past year. Though this is below the historical average of 3.9%, the amount of coal being burned is still a concern. Asia and Oceania (Asia-Pacific region) accounted for 70.5% of world consumption, 71% of which can be attributed to China alone. Canada accounts for only 0.2% of coal consumption. A move towards more sustainable energy will require Asian countries, China in particular, to move away from coal, a consistently cheap and stable resource for them. Not much more to say on this one.
Nuclear
World nuclear energy production grew by 0.9% in 2013, the first net increase since 2010. Following the nuclear accident in Fukushima, Japan, fewer reactors were in operation over the last several years. However safety reviews for these reactors have since been scaled down, and more reactors were operating in 2013, thereby resulting in a net production increase. Canada, the United States and China reported the largest increases in consumption at 4.1%, 33.4% and 4.4% of the global share respectively.
Hydroelectricity
Hydroelectric production grew by 2.9% from last year, considered to be below-average growth. Nevertheless, hydro remains the world’s most prominent non-fossil energy source. Most of the growth came from China and India. With all of the great lakes and fresh water reserves, Canada is also heavily reliant on hydroelectricity, accounting for 10.4% of total global consumption. Though hydroelectricity is certainly a cleaner energy source than any of its fossil counterparts, the reality is there are only so many rivers we can dam up. The production of hydro also severely disturbs the affected ecosystems. Other renewable resources are also being explored that can perhaps offer the same benefit with less of a trade-off on the land-use side of things.
Other Renewables
In terms of electricity generation, wind and solar both experienced significant growth from 2012. Renewable power consumption grew by 16.3%, accounting for 5.3% of the world’s total electricity. Europe leads the way in the wind department, particularly in Denmark and Spain, where wind accounts for 32.5% and 15% of those countries’ total electricity consumption respectively. Solar energy production grew by a whopping 33% in 2013 and is expected to continue to grow steadily as technology evolves.
The other major renewable contributors are biofuels (ethanol and biodiesel). The United States and Brazil are the world’s top producers, accounting for 43.5% and 24.2% of global biofuels production. This comes as no surprise given the abundance of cane in Brazil and new standards in the U.S. Globally, ethanol production increased by 6.1% from 2012, while biodiesel increased by 6.2%. By contrast, Canada accounts for 1.5% of global biofuel production. Canada certainly has potential to increase its share of global biofuel production, given the wide variety of biofuel feedstocks readily available for harvest such as corn, wheat, canola and soybeans to name a few. The main issue holding back biofuel production worldwide is the food vs. fuel debate… but perhaps we better save that one for another issue.
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