There are over 7 billion people in the entire world, and rising. Each of us use loads of energy each year, and in some cases we don’t even think about it. The average U.S. household uses somewhere around 1000kWh per month. For a reference, 1kWh can power 15 days of cell phone usage, so only 2kWh are technically needed for your cell phone per month. With 7 billion people in the world, what is the total world energy consumption?
World Energy Consumption Statistics
World energy consumption, according to the EIA was 524 quadrillion BTU in 2010. Never heard of a quadrillion before? Well, after the billion is the trillion, and then there’s the quadrillion; that’s 524,000,000,000,000,000 BTU all written out. One BTU (British Thermal Unit) is needed to cool/heat 1 pound of water by 1ºF. That’s a lot of energy usage! How much of that belongs to the U.S.? About 19%: 99 quadrillion BTU. Breaking it down even further, that’s an average of just under 2 quadrillion BTU per state, provided that we use the exact amount of energy in each state.
Individual Energy Consumption
Many people look at this number in awe and wonder how that could even be possible. Who uses all of this energy? The answer is simple, yet shocking: we do! In 2010, we used an average of 74 million BTU…per person. However, in 2011 we spiked up to 312 million BTU per person, and have been rising ever since. (2012 statistics are currently unavailable from the EIA) However, the word “consumption” does not include biomass fuels. “Consumption includes only coal, electricity, natural gas, and petroleum fuels” – EIA.
Future Projections
On July 25 of this year, the EIA released some predictions of energy consumption for the future. If our current trends continue (which is likely), our world energy consumption will increase by 56% between 2010 and 2040. In their predictions, “world energy use rises from 524 quadrillion Btu in 2010 to 630 quadrillion Btu in 2020 and to 820 quadrillion Btu in 2040” – EIA. Fossil fuels still account for about 80% of total energy production, but renewable energy and nuclear power methods are increasing by about 2.5% more each year.
Renewable Energy
Switching to a renewable energy supplier will no doubt help keep our planet healthier and livable. 312 million BTU per person could be generated in a greener fashion. There are many methods of energy production available, and there’s a supplier near you that uses some of these earth-friendly methods. Green methods to produce energy include: solar, wind, hydroelectric, geothermal, biomass, and tidal.
Switching Suppliers
Do you live in MD, DC, or IL? Sound like something you’d be interested in? Then compare your electricity rates and switch to a new energy supplier today!
For more statistics and studies on world energy consumption, visit the EIA: http://www.eia.gov/.
