Natural gas emerged as the fuel of choice, posting the biggest gains and accounting for 45 percent of the rise in energy consumption, according to IEA estimations.
Gas demand growth was especially strong in the United States and China, according to the report.
“Demand for all fuels increased, with fossil fuels meeting nearly 70 percent of the growth for the second year running. Solar and wind generation grew at double-digit pace, with solar alone increasing by 31 percent. Still, that was not fast enough to meet higher electricity demand around the world that also drove up coal use,” said IEA.
Electricity continues to position itself as the “fuel” of the future, with global electricity demand growing by 4 percent in 2018 to more than 23 000 TWh, according to the report.
“This rapid growth is pushing electricity towards a 20 percent share in total final consumption of energy. Increasing power generation was responsible for half of the growth in primary energy demand.”
IEA said that renewables were a major contributor to this power generation expansion, accounting for nearly half of electricity demand growth.
China remains the leader in renewables, both for wind and solar, followed by Europe and the United States, said the report.
“Energy intensity improved by 1.3 percent last year, just half the rate of the period between 2014-2016. This third consecutive year of slowdown was the result of weaker energy efficiency policy implementation and strong demand growth in more energy intensive economies.”
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