The latest edition of the Statistical Review of World Energy 2024 takes a comprehensive look at the current state of the global energy sector, providing key data on production, consumption and emissions, as well as progress in the energy transition towards a more sustainable model.

2023 was the warmest year on record, and the impact of climate change was felt on every continent. The World Economic Forum’s latest Global Risks Report 2024 finds that extreme weather events, biodiversity loss, ecosystem collapse and natural resource scarcity pose the greatest risk to humanity over the next decade. The main cause is the burning of fossil fuels, which has been increasing as the human population continues to grow.

In this context, the Statistical Review of World Energy 2024 is a report by the Energy Institute that provides a detailed overview of global hydrocarbon and renewable energy production and consumption, carbon dioxide emissions and progress in the transition to an energy model less dependent on fossil fuels, driven by increasingly competitive exploitation of wind and solar power.

Analysis by the Energy Institute confirms that global primary energy consumption in 2023 increased by 2% over the previous year, reaching a new record for the second year in a row, with non-OECD countries dominating both share and annual growth rates. Record highs were observed in fossil fuel consumption and emissions, but also in renewable energy generation.

This increase in energy consumption reflects economic expansion, especially in developing regions such as Asia, where countries such as China and India remain dependent on fossil fuels, which continue to be the basis of their development to fuel industrial growth.

The increase in energy consumption was accompanied by a 2.1% increase in carbon dioxide emissions, exceeding 40 billion metric tons of CO₂ for the first time. Flaring and industrial processes were the main drivers of the record increase in emissions.

A boost for renewables

The good news is that renewables grew at six times the rate of total primary energy, accounting for 14.6% of total consumption. However, fossil fuels continue to dominate, accounting for 81.5% of primary energy consumption.

Electricity production grew by 2.5%, with renewables contributing 30% of total production. Wind and solar accounted for 74% of all newly installed electricity generation capacity, experiencing unprecedented growth thanks to significant additions from China and Europe. Regionally, Central and South America made the largest contribution to renewable energy growth, with 72%.

With more than 115 GW, new wind power generation installations had a record year. Nearly 66% of this new capacity was added in China, which is equivalent to that of North America and Europe combined, although Europe has the largest share of offshore wind (12%). As for solar, it accounted for 75% (346 GW) of the capacity added, with China responsible for around a quarter of the growth.

Still, the report concludes that, if climate targets are to be met and carbon emissions reduced, the transition to cleaner energy sources must be accelerated, while recognising the diversity of challenges in different regions and acknowledging the stark contrasts between the northern and southern hemispheres.

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