Global energy consumption operates at a terrifying scale.

[yosh@toot.yosh.is]

Global energy consumption operates at a terrifying scale. In 2024 the world consumed 186 PWh (Petawatt Hours) of energy. Of which solar only made up a measly 5 PWh.

Energy Production and Consumption

Explore data on how energy production and use varies across the world.

Our World in Data (ourworldindata.org)

[jonkoops@mastodon.social]

@yosh Note this graph doesn’t take into account is the fact that fossil fuels are incredibly inefficient compared to renewables for energy generation, the method used measures energy before conversion losses.

This means that when we electrify we use less energy in total (e.g. electric cars, heat pumps). Think of the entire chain of fossil fuels (extraction, refinement, transportation, combustion), there are enormous losses.

Check out:

https://youtu.be/EVJkq4iu7bk
https://youtu.be/6c94vRmbM6Y

[jonkoops@mastodon.social]

@yosh Basically, we don’t need to replace the fossil fuels in this graph with equivalent renewable energy, we will need much less (generally speaking). So it gives skewed picture of the effort required to phase them out.

Don’t get me wrong, it is still a massive task, and there is much yet to do, but it isn’t as doom and gloom as the graph might allude to.

[uep@timeloop.cafe]

@yosh it's also really best when distributed (uneven cloud cover) and networked