Energy powers the modern world, whether it’s electricity or natural gas, fuel oil or even coal, everybody needs energy, and some interesting things are happening in this industry. Global energy demand continued to increase last year, though slowly but surely, there’s a shift underway as electricity and renewable power generation gains on traditional fossil fuels.
Overall Energy Demand Increasing, But So Are Renewables
According to the Global Energy Review 2025 report from the International Energy Agency (IEA), worldwide demand for energy increased by 2.2 percent last year, a faster-than-average rate compared to the previous decade. All energy sources grew in 2024 – oil, natural gas, coal, renewables, and nuclear power – but electricity demand increased by a whopping 4.3 percent.
In comparison, oil demand around the world “slowed markedly in 2024,” increasing by just 0.8 percent. That’s significantly less demand growth than in 2023, which was 1.9 percent. Interestingly, oil fell to less than 30 percent of total global energy consumption for the very first time. Worldwide oil demand peaked about 50 years ago, hitting 46 percent.
Providing a little context to all the data, “This edition of the Global Energy Review is the first comprehensive depiction of the trends that took place in 2024 across the entire energy sector,” explained the IEA, “covering data for all fuels and technologies, all regions and major countries, and energy-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.”
Interesting Changes In Energy Trends
Breaking things down a little further, last year, around 80 percent of the growth in global electricity generation came from renewable and nuclear sources. But what’s really interesting is that combined, these two sources “contributed 40 percent of total generation for the first time, with renewables alone supplying 32 percent,” a huge move toward a cleaner future. Renewable power generation continues to grow as well, as around 700 gigawatts of capacity were added last year, 80 percent of which came from solar.
Similarly, more than 7 gigawatts of nuclear power generating capacity were installed last year. That’s about 33 percent more than was added in 2023. Also, construction of new atomic power plants increased by 50 percent last year.
According to the IEA, global consumption of electricity increased by nearly 1,100 terawatt-hours in 2024, the largest jump ever. In fact, that increase is greater than the total annual electricity consumption of Japan! Given its high population and industrial might, China accounted for more than half of that 1,100 tW demand increase, with cooling for buildings and the ongoing electrification of transportation being major drivers of demand growth.
Electric vehicles are certainly contributing to increased electricity consumption worldwide. Sales of EVs grew by more than 25 percent last year, exceeding 17 million vehicles. This represents about 20 percent of all new vehicle sales.
The need for natural gas increased in 2024 as well. This energy source saw the strongest demand of all fossil fuels. Consumption grew by 2.7 percent, an increase that works out to around 115 billion cubic meters of the stuff.
Not surprisingly, CO2 emissions increased in 2024, but the rate of growth slowed compared to the prior year. These emissions were also decoupled from global economic growth. CO2 output increased by 0.8 percent in 2024, though the worldwide economy still increased by more than 3 percent.
Read the full article here