What forms of energy do we consume?
by William Papolis, Tuesday Feb 20, 2007 9:24PM EST
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Energy, where do you come from? What sources of energy does our planet depend on? Are some sources consumed more than others? How much in total? What is the percentage breakdown by energy source? All important questions! Basically we want to know what forms of energy are being consumed, how much, and the breakdown, so we can get some perspective. Let’s take a closer look at the energy mix of our planet, (the "Big Blue Marble"). |
Energy mix of the planet Earth
Energy, what are we using? To get a good perspective let's look at some data. Consider the following graph ...
Source: International Energy Agency
Note: Energy is calculated in thousand tonnes of oil equivalent (ktoe) on a net calorific value basis, and then expressed as a percentage for comparison purposes.
Most of the energy we consume comes from oil. Further, fossil fuels (coal, oil, and gas) represent about 80% of our total energy consumption. Looking at the graph you can see that we seem to be leaving a dark mark on our "Big Blue Marble".
See that small sliver of yellow? That's the amount of solar, wind and geothermal energy we generated in 2004. Hydro, nuclear, solar, wind, geothermal, combustibles, renewables and waste are all considering renewable resources. So that means only 20% of the energy we use today is renewable. Hmm ... if things don't change, and we run out of fossil fuels, think about living your life using 20% of the energy you use today. It might be a little difficult.
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