Global Energy Consumption: A Renewable Energy Sources Analysis

This report provides an analysis of global energy consumption, highlighting the dominance of fossil fuels and the growing need for renewable energy sources. It examines the potential of wind, water, and sunlight (WWW) to meet global energy demands by 2030 and substitute non-renewable sources by 2050. The report includes figures illustrating energy availability, infrastructure requirements, and cost comparisons between renewable and fossil fuel sources. It further explores the declining costs of solar and wind energy, as well as net energy ratios for various energy sources. The analysis emphasizes the importance of renewable energy in addressing energy demands and the transition from fossil fuels.

Appendices
1. Global Energy Consumptions by source:
Source: International Energy Agency (IEA)
The above figure demonstrate the need for more focus on renewable source of energy to match
the demand. As seen above, it is apparent that the fossil fuels including coal, oil and natural gas
are the dominant sources of energy in industrial economies. They are the main source of the
production growth in energy in the developing economies.
Figure 2: Availability of the Global Renewable Energy
Source: Jacobson and Delucchi (2011)
The above table illustrates the conclusion by a recent study that renewable energy sources,
anchored on wind, water, alongside sunlight (WWW) might give all the new energy globally by
year 2030, and substitute all the present non-renewable sources by year 2050. The table
demonstrates the estimates of the potential energy from a range of renewable energy sources
after conversion into the trillions of watts. The forecasted global energy in the year 2030 is
seventeen trillion watts. Therefore, from the above table, it is observed that the energy

availability from wind and solar in probably-developable destinations is more than adequate to
meet all the energy needs of the world.
Figure 3: Infrastructure requirement for supplying all global energy in 2030 from
renewable sources
Source: Jacobson and Delucchi (2011)
The above table indicates the estimated desired infrastructure to supply all energy globally when
WWS in 2030. The table indicates the outcome, anchored on the assumption that ninety percent
of global energy is supplied by wind alongside solar, and ten percent by other renewables. The
study further considered requirement for land for renewable energy infrastructure. This included
the land for appropriate spacing between the wind turbines. The entire land required amounted to
nearly two percent of the total global land area.
Figure 4: Cost Comparison of Renewable Energy Sources to Fossil Fuel Electricity Cost
The above figure has compared the cost of renewable energy with the traditional fossil fuel
electricity costs. The cost of renewable energy is made competitive by making their costs fall to

wholesale prices of electricity, or price at which fossil-fuel power plant are selling the electricity
to the grid. This has happened for certain renewables like biomass and hydropower. The above
figure above demonstrate that wind alongside geothermal are almost cost-competitive with
traditional sources of power. Solar remains the most expensive source, but because the solar
photovoltaics are installable by individual consumers, the PV price solely requited to drop to the
retail price which consumers pay. This is greater than the price at wholesale.
Figure 5: Declining Cost of Solar and Wind Energy
Source: National Renewable Energy Laboratories (2005)
The above figure indicates the previsou and projectd cost trends for both solar and wind energy.
Whereas furtehr cost drops are likely, the cost curves shape indicates that future costs shall drop
more gradually than previously. Apart from the decline in cost, figure five further indicates that
PV and wind cost varitaion shall drop. Therefore, the future renewable energy sources are
anticipated to be increasingly predictable, which is never the case for the fossil fuels. The
intalled US PV system prices dropped by 5-7 percent a year on average from 1988 to 2011 and

by elevenn-twelve percent from year 2010 to 2011, with additional price drop anticipated.
Whereas the renewable energy cost are dropping, futute market renewable energy market prices
shall never essentially be less than previous prices of fossil fuels. The challenges relating to cost
for the production of renewable energy include net energy, associated intermittency as well as
capital intensity.
Figure 6: Net Energy Ratios for Various Energy Sources
The above table illustartes the net energy ratios for a range of energy sources. The Net energy ratios for
same source is able to vary substantially, based on particular production technology as well as cnditions
as indicated by the difference in ratios of net energy.