Energy is an important material basis for the survival and development of human society. Throughout the history of human social development, every major progress of human society is accompanied by the improvement and replacement of energy. The more the economy develops, the more advanced the society, and the higher the degree of dependence on energy. Since entering the 21st century, the world's energy consumption is still growing. According to BP statistics, the world's primary energy consumption was 9.4 billion tons of oil equivalent in 2000, rose to 9.8 billion tons of oil equivalent in 2005, and reached 12 billion tons of oil equivalent in 2010. Figure 1 shows the total amount and growth of world energy consumption in the first 10 years of the 21st century.
Figure 1 - 2000~2010 World primary energy consumption and growth rate
After a short period of decline in 2009, in 2010, the energy consumption of the century began to show a large growth trend, with an increase of 5.6%, and the total energy consumption reached 12 billion tons of standard oil equivalent.
In 2010, in the world's primary energy consumption structure, oil accounted for 33.6%, natural gas accounted for 23.8%, coal accounted for 29.6%, nuclear energy accounted for 5.2%, hydropower accounted for 6.5%, and renewable energy accounted for 1.3%. Although oil is still the most important energy source, its share has declined for 11 consecutive years, and the share of natural gas has increased significantly. The energy consumption structure is closely related to the resource status of each country. Due to its rich natural gas resources, Russia's natural gas consumption accounts for 57% of primary energy consumption; China's coal consumption accounts for the highest proportion, reaching about 70%; Brazil's hydropower consumption accounts for 39% of primary energy consumption. Oil and gas consumption in developed countries is still relatively high. In addition to France, oil and natural gas in OECD countries accounts for more than 60% of primary energy consumption. In France, oil and gas account for 51% of primary energy consumption, and nuclear energy accounts for 39%.
In 2010, the global proven oil reserves reached 1,383.2 billion barrels (188.8 billion tons), a year-on-year increase of 0.5% (6.6 billion barrels), and the reserve-production ratio was 46 years. The growth in proved oil reserves came mainly from the Asia-Pacific region (mainly India), Central and South America and Africa. The Asia-Pacific region increased by 3 billion barrels, Central and South America increased by 1.9 billion barrels, and Africa increased by 1.7 billion barrels. The reserves of other regions were basically maintained at the 2009 level. At the end of 2010, the Middle East's oil reserves still accounted for more than half of the world's oil reserves, accounting for 55%; others are below 20%, such as Asia Pacific, Africa, Europe and Eurasia, Central and South America, and North America, which are 3%, 10%, 10%, 17%, and 5% respectively.
As of the end of 2010, the world's proven natural gas reserves continued to increase to 187.1 trillion m3, a year-on-year increase of 500 billion m3 or 0.3%. The largest increases were in India and Brazil. Among them, India increased from 1.1 trillion m3 in 2009 to 1.5 trillion m3 in 2010, an increase of about 30%. The global natural gas reserve-production ratio is 59 years. The natural gas reserves in the Middle East and Russia account for more than 70% (71.8%) of the world's natural gas reserves. Russia, Iran, and Qatar together account for more than half of the world's natural gas reserves, accounting for 53.2%. In 2010, China remained in 14th place.
In 2010, the world's proven recoverable coal reserves were 860.9 billion tons. Among them, the United States has 237.3 billion tons of coal reserves, accounting for 27.6% of the world, ranking first; Russia has 157 billion tons, accounting for 18.2% of the world, ranking second; China's reserves are 114.5 billion tons, accounting for 13.3% of the world's, ranking third. Australia and India have the fourth and fifth largest reserves, respectively. In 2010, the world's coal output was 7.273 billion tons, a year-on-year increase of 6.3%. Among them, China's coal output is 3.24 billion tons, accounting for 48.3% of the world's total, ranking first in the world; the United States' coal output is 980 million tons, accounting for 14.8% of the world's total, ranking second in the world; India's output was 570 million tons, accounting for 5.8%, ranking third in the world; Australia and Russia ranked fourth and fifth respectively. In 2010, the world's coal consumption was 6.931 billion tons, a year-on-year increase of 7.6%. China's coal consumption is 3.32 billion tons, accounting for 48.0% of the world's total, ranking first in the world, with a year-on-year increase of 10.1%, accounting for 63% of the global increase.
In 2010, the global nuclear power generation amounted to 2,767.2 billion kWh, a year-on-year increase of 2.0%. The US nuclear power consumption is 849.4 billion kWh, accounting for 30.7% of the global total, ranking first in the world. France and Japan came in second and third, respectively. China's nuclear power consumption is 73.9 billion kWh, accounting for 2.7% of the world's total, ranking ninth in the world. In 2010, the global hydropower consumption was 3,427.7 billion kWh, a year-on-year increase of 5.3%. China's hydropower consumption is 721 billion kWh, accounting for 21.0% of the world's total, ranking first in the world; Brazil's consumption is 396 billion kWh, accounting for 11.6%, ranking second in the world; Canada's hydropower consumption is 366.3 billion kWh, accounting for 10.7%, ranking third in the world.
In recent years, renewable energy has grown rapidly in world energy consumption, and biofuel production has increased significantly. In 2010, global biofuel production was about 60 million tons of oil equivalent, a year-on-year increase of 14.3%. The increase mainly came from the United States and Brazil. Renewable energy generation also increased significantly, up 15.5% year-on-year. In 2010, the world's renewable energy power generation was 701 billion kWh (mainly wind power and solar power), a year-on-year increase of 15.5%. Among them, the United States ranks first with 172.9 billion kWh, accounting for 24.7% of the world's total; Germany ranks second with 82 billion kWh, accounting for 11.7% of the world's total; Spain ranks third with 54.8 billion kWh, accounting for 7.8% of the world's total; China ranks fourth with 53.5 billion kWh, accounting for 7.6%.
Looking at the current situation of world energy consumption, the total energy consumption in the world has been increasing year by year, and the world's demand for energy consumption will increase. From the perspective of the world's energy structure, the main energy sources in the world are still mainly non-renewable fossil energy such as oil, natural gas and coal, but it can also be seen that the proportion of renewable energy in energy consumption is increasing. Renewable energy can be predicted, developed and utilized, which is the direction of world energy development.
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