What is the current breakdown of global energy sources?
What is the current breakdown of global energy sources?
What is the current breakdown of global energy sources?
As the first graph shows, the majority of the world’s energy still comes from fossil fuels. In 2019, 84% of it.
Low-carbon energy accounted for only 16% – around 11% from renewables and just over 4% from nuclear energy.
Since three-quarters of global greenhouse gases come from energy – the burning of coal, oil and gas –
we need to rapidly transition away from them to low-carbon sources.
The second graph shows the rapid increase of our total energy consumption, especially the growth of the fossil fuels industry since the 1950s. Total energy consumption is closely correlated with global economic growth and the world has powered its development using fossil fuels. The developing world must now be afforded the opportunity for economic growth without extending our climate crisis.
Fortunately renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar, have become economically competitive with fossil fuels, allowing developing countries to lead frog old technology.
The third graph shows the current energy mix, clearly highlighting the predominance of fossil fuels.
As the first graph shows, the majority of the world’s energy still comes from fossil fuels. In 2019, 84% of it.
Low-carbon energy accounted for only 16% – around 11% from renewables and just over 4% from nuclear energy.
Since three-quarters of global greenhouse gases come from energy – the burning of coal, oil and gas –
we need to rapidly transition away from them to low-carbon sources.
The second graph shows the rapid increase of our total energy consumption, especially the growth of the fossil fuels industry since the 1950s. Total energy consumption is closely correlated with global economic growth and the world has powered its development using fossil fuels. The developing world must now be afforded the opportunity for economic growth without extending our climate crisis.
Fortunately renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar, have become economically competitive with fossil fuels, allowing developing countries to lead frog old technology.
The third graph shows the current energy mix, clearly highlighting the predominance of fossil fuels.
As the first graph shows, the majority of the world’s energy still comes from fossil fuels. In 2019, 84% of it.
Low-carbon energy accounted for only 16% – around 11% from renewables and just over 4% from nuclear energy.
Since three-quarters of global greenhouse gases come from energy – the burning of coal, oil and gas –
we need to rapidly transition away from them to low-carbon sources.
The second graph shows the rapid increase of our total energy consumption, especially the growth of the fossil fuels industry since the 1950s. Total energy consumption is closely correlated with global economic growth and the world has powered its development using fossil fuels. The developing world must now be afforded the opportunity for economic growth without extending our climate crisis.
Fortunately renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar, have become economically competitive with fossil fuels, allowing developing countries to lead frog old technology.
The third graph shows the current energy mix, clearly highlighting the predominance of fossil fuels.
As the first graph shows, the majority of the world’s energy still comes from fossil fuels. In 2019, 84% of it.
Low-carbon energy accounted for only 16% – around 11% from renewables and just over 4% from nuclear energy.
Since three-quarters of global greenhouse gases come from energy – the burning of coal, oil and gas –
we need to rapidly transition away from them to low-carbon sources.
The second graph shows the rapid increase of our total energy consumption, especially the growth of the fossil fuels industry since the 1950s. Total energy consumption is closely correlated with global economic growth and the world has powered its development using fossil fuels. The developing world must now be afforded the opportunity for economic growth without extending our climate crisis.
Fortunately renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar, have become economically competitive with fossil fuels, allowing developing countries to lead frog old technology.
The third graph shows the current energy mix, clearly highlighting the predominance of fossil fuels.
As the first graph shows, the majority of the world’s energy still comes from fossil fuels. In 2019, 84% of it.
Low-carbon energy accounted for only 16% – around 11% from renewables and just over 4% from nuclear energy.
Since three-quarters of global greenhouse gases come from energy – the burning of coal, oil and gas –
we need to rapidly transition away from them to low-carbon sources.
The second graph shows the rapid increase of our total energy consumption, especially the growth of the fossil fuels industry since the 1950s. Total energy consumption is closely correlated with global economic growth and the world has powered its development using fossil fuels. The developing world must now be afforded the opportunity for economic growth without extending our climate crisis.
Fortunately renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar, have become economically competitive with fossil fuels, allowing developing countries to lead frog old technology.
The third graph shows the current energy mix, clearly highlighting the predominance of fossil fuels.
As the first graph shows, the majority of the world’s energy still comes from fossil fuels. In 2019, 84% of it.
Low-carbon energy accounted for only 16% – around 11% from renewables and just over 4% from nuclear energy.
Since three-quarters of global greenhouse gases come from energy – the burning of coal, oil and gas –
we need to rapidly transition away from them to low-carbon sources.
The second graph shows the rapid increase of our total energy consumption, especially the growth of the fossil fuels industry since the 1950s. Total energy consumption is closely correlated with global economic growth and the world has powered its development using fossil fuels. The developing world must now be afforded the opportunity for economic growth without extending our climate crisis.
Fortunately renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar, have become economically competitive with fossil fuels, allowing developing countries to lead frog old technology.
The third graph shows the current energy mix, clearly highlighting the predominance of fossil fuels.
Bronze Award -Individual Impact
The Y-CAN Bronze Award recognises you as a Climate Ambassador
Individuals engage in initial training and education about the climate situation from peers, teachers and research material
How can you take your ideas forward for a bigger impact?
Bronze Award -Individual Impact
The Y-CAN Bronze Award recognises you as a Climate Ambassador
Individuals engage in initial training and education about the climate situation from peers, teachers and research material
How can you take your ideas forward for a bigger impact?
Education
Educate Ourselves
Grounded in peer-reviewed science from the world's top institutions, featuring MIT Sloan, Climate Interactive En-ROADS simulator
Educate our Peers
Programs designed for inter-school peer teaching.
Educate our Families
Share knowledge and understanding with friends and family.
Educate our Networks
Build and join networks to expand your knowledge
There are many ways to start educating yourself about climate change. At first this global problem appears very daunting but we know with knowledge comes power, the power to act to make changes, that collectively will make a difference. We will work together to create a brighter future for all. So where to start.
We have created a section that provides climate change information which aims to answer some general questions. The information provided in this section is all researched and sourced from trusted academic institutions, energy research organisations, the worlds top consulting firms and climate change think tanks. A list of suggested websites to go to for further information is provided at the end of this section.
Having built your knowledge around the global need for increasing energy sources to support a rising population, to drive growth, equality and prosperity, you are ready to start to think about how can we transform the world that we live in today to a more stable, equal and sustainable world meeting all the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development goals (UNSDGs).
The best tools we have found to help us understand what global policies and actions need be taken to keep within the UNFCCC Paris Agreement goal of less than 2 degrees of warming is the En-ROADS climate simulator developed by MIT Sloane University and Climate Interactive. This simulator has taken over 10 years to create and
has been built on rigorous climate science information and analysis in energy, land use, buildings and transportation data, and agricultural economics drawing from sources such as the IEA, EIA, IPCC, the Royal Society and many other academic sources. All their sources of data and assumptions are referenced to allow for further investigation should you be interested.
The En-ROADS model is regularly updated to account for changing global dynamics in the energy markets, shock events like COVID19, changes in policies and commitments of major energy consumers, technology breakthroughs etc. En-ROADS results in all scenarios have been tested against the Integrated Assessment Models (IAMs) for the Shared Socio-Economic Pathways (SSP’s). Whilst these IAMs may produce a range of results for various scenarios, En-ROADS outputs tend to lie within the average output of these six models which gives good confidence in the EN-ROADS model.
…..in other words it can be trusted. This is the first and most significant reason why we have chosen EN-Roads as a proposed education tool for you.
The second reason is it is freely available for anyone to use, it instantly updates its integrated calculations for each scenario the user inputs, and there are many learning tools for you to use to become familiar with how to use EN-Roads. It is fun to use, and can also be discussed with peers in a game setting. Having educated yourself, it is a good tool to start discussions with your peers, families and networks as it provides a robust framework and allows for many views to be explored.
You could sign up to the free online course that En-ROADS operates and get their expert tutoring to become an En-ROADS Climate Ambassador.
You can also watch their free 8 session on-line video training, which can be supplemented with their YouTube channel.
If you would like to hear students giving you a brief introduction to En-ROADS, having qualified as En-ROADS Climate Ambassador, contact us.
If you would like to request some peer learning around the En-ROADS climate model, click here
En-ROADS is a great place to start and we encourage you to explore this powerful tool.
Climate Change is one cause of Biodiversity Loss. To learn more see our masterclass collaboration with NHM.
Click below for Biodiversity Masterclass presentation
A second useful global tool that is free and open source information to mine has been developed by an international team and funded by the UK Government's International Climate Fund and the EU's Climate-KIC and is the Global Calculator.
The objective of this programme is similar to En-Roads - deepen understanding about what collective actions are required with respect to climate change and to support the development of detailed policies Governments will need to implement to strengthen the resolve to meet the goals committed to under the Paris Agreement 2015. It helps the user understand what it takes to tackle climate change and to learn what mitigation options make a real difference. With the Global Calculator you can:
1) Learn about energy, land, good and climate issues - how they are related and how they interact
2) Understand how sectors will evolve at a global level to lower carbon by 2050 and see which markets could grow in the future
3) Help inform internal strategies and campaigns
4) Discover what technologies and actions are required
There are also various tutorials, videos and a user guide to help navigate.
The Global Calculator has published a report to show what needs to be achieved, using the evidence from the tool.
WEBSITES and information sources we recommend for further information include:
IEA - The International Energy Agency
EIA - Energy Information Administration (USA)
IPCC - Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
UNFCCC - United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
UN - DESA - UN Department of Economics and Social Affairs
Our World in Data - Scientific research publication, team based at the University of Oxford
IRENA - International Renewable Energy Agency
NOAA - National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration
EWEA - The European Wind Agency Organisation
Climate Action Tracker - The NewClimate Institute, Germany
McKinsey & Co - Energy Insights Global Perspective Jan 2019
British Petroleum New Energy Outlook
The TED Interview - Chris Anderson in conversation with Al Gore July 2020
For regular jornalist reporting:
Economist
Nature
Lancet
Financial Times
The Guardian
HOOP
Click here if you would like to learn more about how to start a youth climate club at school, or join other students in climate change work.
