Population

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Global Access to Electricity

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In 2016, the world's electricity consumption amounted to approximately 21.8 trillion kilowatt hours. One quadrillion watts is approximately equal to one petawatt.

Global consumption of electricity has increased over the last decades from 7,323 terawatt hours in 1980 to 21.8 terawatt hours In 2016 In a similar pattern.

Power consumption in China has quickly risen, reaching 6,840 terawatt hours in 2018

China is the highest consumer of electricity in the world with the United States following close behind, consuming 4,148 terawatt hours in 2016.

REFERENCES

Bilgen, S. (2014). Structure and environmental impact of global energy consumption. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2014.07.004

Santamouris, M., Cartalis, C., Synnefa, A., & Kolokotsa, D. (2015). On the impact of urban heat island and global warming on the power demand and electricity consumption of buildings - A review. Energy and Buildings. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2014.09.052

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Fossil Fuels

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Fact 1: All fossils fuels are the result of plant decomposition that happened millions of years ago – underwater. The most recent discovery of an untapped oil field was discovered in Alaska. The ice is thought to have covered a sea that existed millions of years ago.

Fact 2: Fossil fuels include coal, natural gas, and oil. The current statistics show that globally, fossil fuels provide for over 85% of all the energy we consume.

Fact 3: Prospecting for oil requires measuring the type of rock that is beneath the Earth’s surface. Scientist drill to remove a core sample, and then examine the strata levels to determine if there is evidence of the plant decomposition needed to have created the crude oil.

Fact 4: Crude oil is found in underground areas called reservoirs that can be turned into products such as gasoline and electricity.

Fact 5: Coal is a combustible rock that is black in color. It runs in veins through the rock beneath the surface of the Earth. Coal mines allow miners to go underground to remove the veins from the rock itself.

Fact 6: Natural gas is a form of methane. It gets trapped in pockets where plant decomposition has occurred. It can be underground, but it can also be above ground if the organic compounds in the water source are the right type. New experiments are working to discover how to harvest methane from the waste products of animals such as cows.

Fact 7: Fossil fuels are not a renewable resource even though we have not located all of the reserves there are in the world. They take millions of years to produce. It is estimated that given our current trend in consumption, and the predictive discovery of new sources of fossil fuels, the world will run out of them within 100 to 200 years.

Fact 8: Fossil fuels, when burned, can be used to generate electricity or power vehicles.

Fact 9: Fossil fuels cannot be produced by humans and must first be burned to be used as electricity.

Fact 10: Natural gas is transported to houses using underground pipelines that connect directly to the natural gas sources.

Fact 11: Fossil fuels are such a common source of energy in our world because they are so easy to convert into energy. All of them are based in hydrocarbons, which only have to be burned to release their energy.

Fact 12: Americans use about 18 millions barrels of oil everyday.

REFERENCES

Carrette, L., Friedrich, K. A., & Stimming, U. (2001). Fuel Cells - Fundamentals and Applications. Fuel Cells. https://doi.org/10.1002/1615-6854(200105)1:1<5::aid-fuce5>3.0.co;2-g

Höök, M., & Tang, X. (2013). Depletion of fossil fuels and anthropogenic climate change-A review. Energy Policy. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2012.10.046

Mohr, S. H., Wang, J., Ellem, G., Ward, J., & Giurco, D. (2015). Projection of world fossil fuels by country. Fuel. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fuel.2014.10.030

Shafiee, S., & Topal, E. (2009). When will fossil fuel reserves be diminished? Energy Policy. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2008.08.016

United Nations Environment Programme. (2019). Renewable energy investment in 2018 hit USD 288.9 billion, far exceeding fossil fuel investment. Retrieved from https://www.unenvironment.org/news-and-stories/press-release/renewable-energy-investment-2018-hit-usd-2889-billion-far-exceeding

World Population

One of the most astounding facts about population is the sheer speed at which the world population is growing.

  • The world population reached 7.6 billion as of mid-2017.

  • The world has added approximately one billion inhabitants over the last twelve years.

  • Even with the high death rates of those living in poverty, the world population is still expanding at an incredible rate.

  • The world’s population is growing by 1.10 percent per year, or approximately an additional 83 million people annually.

  • The global population is expected to reach 8.6 billion in 2030, 9.8 billion in 2050 and 11.2 billion in 2100.

  • 50.4 percent of the world’s population is male and 49.6 percent is female.

  • The median age of the global population, that is, the age at which half the population is older and half is younger, is 30 years.

FURTHER READING

ONU. (2015). World population, ageing. Suggested Citation: United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2015). World Population Ageing. https://doi.org/ST/ESA/SER.A/390

Population Reference Bureau. (2016). 2016 World Population Data Sheet. 2015 World Population Data Sheet. https://doi.org/10.2307/1972177

UN-DESA Population Division. (2017). World Population Prospects: The 2017 Revision. In World Population Prospects: The 2017 Revision.

United Nations / Department of Economic and Social Affairs. (2009). World Population Prospects : The 2008 Revision. In Population Newsletter. https://doi.org/21 February 2014