Global Primary Energy Consumption by Different Sources (1800-2022)

The world as we know it, runs on energy, and the energy system that feeds us has transformed dramatically since the Industrial Revolution. Today, the world consumes more than 178,000 TWh of energy each year. In comparison, in 1920, the world consumed 18,000 TWh of energy. 

As shown in the chart above, we see this 10 fold increase in 100 years, and how transformative the past century has been to the global energy supply and humanity as a whole. It graphs global energy consumption from 1800 onwards, where we see a steady use of traditional biomass at 5,650 TWh of energy consumed each year; and suddenly in the late 1800s we see a significant increase in the use of coal.

Though the first oil well was successfully drilled in 1859, it wasn’t until the turn of the century that the modern oil and gas industry started to take hold globally. Gasoline sales were exceeding that of kerosene by 1919.