The US Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration (EIA) has released its International Energy Annual 1999. The report, which presents information and trends on world energy production and consumption for petroleum, natural gas, coal, and electricity, shows that between 1990 and 1999, the world’s total output of primary energy increased at an average annual rate of 0.9 percent.
From 1998 to 1999, though, the world’s production of energy decreased by 0.7 percent. Coal production dropped the most, by 5.0 percent, while petroleum production decreased by 1.4 percent. Gains were seen in the production of natural gas, which increased by 2.2 percent, hydroelectric power (up 1.5 percent), and nuclear power (up 3.4 percent). But the largest gains were seen in the production of energy from non-hydro renewable energy sources, which increased by 7.6 percent over 1998.
The world’s consumption of energy increased slightly, by 0.5 percent. The most obvious difference between the production and consumption figures is that the world’s use of petroleum increased by 1.6 percent, even though production decreased.
The complete report is available in PDF format through EIA.
