The latest edition of the Statistical Review of World Energy has been released, for the first time under the new management of the UK’s Energy Institute (in conjunction with KPMG, Kearney, and Heriot Watt University). Looking at the year 2022, the Review finds that:

• Global primary energy consumption grew by around 1% compared to 2021 (making it 2.8% higher than 2019, before the covid pandemic), with just under 82% of total consumption supplied by fossil fuels (a relatively unchanged portion). This was despite record high prices for coal, record high prices for gas in Europe and Asia, and oil prices averaging US$101/barrel, driven by the Russian invasion of Ukraine and carryover effects from the covid pandemic. Oil still provides the largest share of primary energy consumption, followed by coal, natural gas, wind and solar together, hydroelectricity, and then nuclear.
• Greenhouse gas emissions from energy use, industrial processes, flaring and methane grew by 0.8% to 39.3 GtCO₂e, roughly the equivalent of 70% of total anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. The Asia-Pacific region accounted for more than 50% of these total emissions.
• GHG emissions from flaring decreased a considerable 3.8%, and those from industrial processes decreased 0.2%.
• 2022 had the largest increase in solar and wind capacity ever in absolute terms, at 266 GW (72% being solar). China added 37% of solar capacity and 41% of wind capacity.
• Renewables excluding hydropower constituted 7.5% of global primary energy consumption, up 1% from 2021.
• For electricity production, coal firing was the largest contributor (35.4%), natural gas 23%, while solar and wind together constituted 12%.
• Energy consumption per person is strongly correlated to gross domestic production per person (as well as numerous other factors, including energy efficiency, dwelling size, travel distances, concentration of industry, and climatic conditions). For instance, African countries other than South Africa, Algeria, Egypt and Morocco had an average consumption of 6.9 GJ/person, while Qatar averaged 699.2 GJ/person. The USA averaged 283.5 GJ/person, Germany 147.5 GJ, the UK 108.4 GJ, Australia 228.5 GJ, and Japan 143.9 GJ.

Juliet Davenport, the president of the Energy Institute, said of the findings that “Despite further strong growth in wind and solar in the power sector, overall global energy-related greenhouse gas emissions increased again. We are still heading in the opposite direction to that required by the Paris Agreement.”