How much energy do we use?
by William Papolis, Wednesday Jan 31, 2007 6:45PM EST
Top 20 energy consumers by region
Looking more closely the following table lists detailed energy consumption numbers, with a comparison to population for each region, per capita energy consumption & GDP. This gives us a better perspective on the "why?".
| Top 20 energy consumption by Region (ktoe) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Region | Population (2006) | Energy consumption by region (2004) | % of World energy consumption | Energy consumption per capita (tonnes) | GDP - per capita (2006) | ||
| United States | 298,444,215 | 2,325,887 | 20.72% | 7.79 (2nd) | $43,500 (1st) | ||
| China | 1,313,973,713 | 1,609,348 | 14.34% | 1.22 (17th) | $7,600 (17th) | ||
| Russian Federation | 142,893,540 | 641,532 | 5.72% | 4.49 (6th) | $12,100 (13th) | ||
| India | 1,095,351,995 | 572,851 | 5.10% | 0.52 (20th) | $3,700 (20th) | ||
| Japan | 127,463,611 | 533,201 | 4.75% | 4.18 (9th) | $33,100 (3rd) | ||
| Germany | 82,422,299 | 348,036 | 3.10% | 4.22 (8th) | $31,400 (5th) | ||
| France | 60,876,136 | 275,169 | 2.45% | 4.52 (5th) | $30,100 (7th) | ||
| Canada | 33,098,932 | 269,048 | 2.40% | 8.13 (1st) | $35,200 (2nd) | ||
| United Kingdom | 60,609,153 | 233,689 | 2.08% | 3.86 (10th) | $31,400 (6th) | ||
| Korea, Rep | 48,846,823 | 213,045 | 1.90% | 4.36 (7th) | $24,200 (10th) | ||
| Brazil | 188,078,227 | 204,847 | 1.83% | 1.09 (18th) | $8,600 (16th) | ||
| Italy | 58,133,509 | 184,460 | 1.64% | 3.17 (12th) | $29,700 (8th) | ||
| Indonesia | 245,452,739 | 174,042 | 1.55% | 0.71 (19th) | $3,800 (19th) | ||
| Mexico | 107,449,525 | 165,475 | 1.47% | 1.54 (16th) | $10,600 (14th) | ||
| Iran, Islamic Rep | 68,688,433 | 145,835 | 1.30% | 2.12 (15th) | $8,900 (15th) | ||
| Spain | 40,397,842 | 142,203 | 1.27% | 3.52 (11th) | $27,000 (9th) | ||
| Saudi Arabia | 27,019,731 | 140,413 | 1.25% | 5.20 (4th) | $13,800 (11th) | ||
| Ukraine | 46,710,816 | 140,333 | 1.25% | 3.00 (13th) | $7,600 (18th) | ||
| South Africa | 44,187,637 | 131,137 | 1.17% | 2.97 (14th) | $13,000 (12th) | ||
| Australia | 20,264,082 | 115,776 | 1.03% | 5.71 (3rd) | $32,900 (4th) | ||
| Total - Top 20 regions | 4,110,362,958 | 8,566,327 | 76.33% | ||||
| World Total (136 regions) | 6,525,170,264 | 11,223,278 | 100% | ||||
Source: International Energy Agency and The World Factbook for population figures.
As we saw earlier, China and the USA are the largest consumers of energy. However, there is a big difference when you consider the energy consumption per capita for these top 2 regions. China's energy consumption is 1.22 tonnes compared to the USA's 7.79 tonnes per person per year. In relative terms to the USA, each person from China consumes 16% of what an American consumes.
Another interesting region is India. Yes, they are 4th on our list of top energy consuming regions, but on a per capita basis of energy consumption India appears way down on this list (20th). Relative to the USA, each person in India consumes 6.7% of what an American consumes.
Another interesting data point to note is GDP per capita and it's relationship to energy consumption per capita. Generally speaking, there seems to be a relationship between the richer regions and higher consumption of energy. Thinking about it though, other reasons may also be responsible for higher energy consumption such as ...
- Geographic size of the region, with more energy required for travel
- Latitude, with latitudes closer to the North or South pole being colder and requiring more energy for heat
- Oil producing region, with high consumption per capita among oil producing regions
Consuming energy isn't "bad". The type of energy consumed is what makes it "bad". The purpose here is to highlight the total consumption of energy while noting per capita consumption and GDP. How does your region compare?
The regions to watch going forward are China and India. As those high population regions continue to experience expanding economies, their potential to experience a rapid increase in energy consumption is very high. With more competition for energy resources we can all expect higher prices!
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