Why Wind and Solar Alone Can't Meet Rising Energy Needs
Global energy demand rose by 2% last year with all sources of energy seeing upticks, the Energy Institute said in the latest edition of its annual Statistical Review of World Energy, previously compiled by BP.
Oil, gas, and coal consumption increased modestly, at 1%, with oil demand specifically falling in China, by 1.2%. Global bas demand, however, expanded by 2.5%, the Energy Institute reported, while India saw a substantial increase in coal demand. Now, the subcontinent consumes as much coal as the former Soviet Union, now known as the Commonwealth of Independent States, Southern and Central America, North America, and Europe combined.
Oil demand among members of the OECD remained unchanged from 2023 last year, after recording a dip in 2023. Outside the OECD, demand rose by 1%, the Energy Institute said.
“All major energy sources, including nuclear and hydro, hit record consumption levels (for the first time since 2006), a reflection of surging global demand,” Nick Wayth, CEO of the Energy Institute, said. “No country has shaped this outcome more than China. Its rapid expansion of renewable capacity, alongside continued reliance on coal, gas, and oil, is driving global energy trends.”
Indeed, China accounted for 57% of new wind and solar capacity additions last year, cementing its place as the leader in alternative energy capacity. It drove a global 16% increase in capacity, which was nine times faster growth than growth in energy demand, the Energy Institute said. Yet the fact that hydrocarbon demand also rose suggests that growth in solar and wind generation capacity does not correspond to growth in actual supply, which highlights the reliability problem with those two yet again.
“Electrification is accelerating, particularly across developing economies where access to modern energy is expanding rapidly. However, the pace of renewable deployment continues to be outstripped by overall demand growth, 60% of which was met by fossil fuels,” the president of the Energy Institute, Andy Brown, said.
By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com
