Energy
Visualizing the Scale of Global Fossil Fuel Production
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The Scale of Global Fossil Fuel Production
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Fossil fuels have been our predominant source of energy for over a century, and the world still extracts and consumes a colossal amount of coal, oil, and gas every year.
This infographic visualizes the volume of global fossil fuel production in 2021 using data from BP’s Statistical Review of World Energy.
The Facts on Fossil Fuels
In 2021, the world produced around 8 billion tonnes of coal, 4 billion tonnes of oil, and over 4 trillion cubic meters of natural gas.
Most of the coal is used to generate electricity for our homes and offices and has a key role in steel production. Similarly, natural gas is a large source of electricity and heat for industries and buildings. Oil is primarily used by the transportation sector, in addition to petrochemical manufacturing, heating, and other end uses.
Here’s a full breakdown of coal, oil, and gas production by country in 2021.
Coal Production
If all the coal produced in 2021 were arranged in a cube, it would measure 2,141 meters (2.1km) on each side—more than 2.5 times the height of the world’s tallest building.
China produced 50% or more than four billion tonnes of the world’s coal in 2021. It’s also the largest consumer of coal, accounting for 54% of coal consumption in 2021.
| Rank | Country | 2021 Coal Production (million tonnes) | % of Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | 🇨🇳 China | 4,126.0 | 50% |
| #2 | 🇮🇳 India | 811.3 | 10% |
| #3 | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | 614.0 | 8% |
| #4 | 🇺🇸 U.S. | 524.4 | 6% |
| #5 | 🇦🇺 Australia | 478.6 | 6% |
| #6 | 🇷🇺 Russia | 433.7 | 5% |
| #7 | 🇿🇦 South Africa | 234.5 | 3% |
| #8 | 🇩🇪 Germany | 126.0 | 2% |
| #9 | 🇰🇿 Kazakhstan | 115.7 | 1% |
| #10 | 🇵🇱 Poland | 107.6 | 1% |
| 🌍 Other | 600.9 | 7% | |
| Total | 8,172.6 | 100% |
India is both the second largest producer and consumer of coal. Meanwhile, Indonesia is the world’s largest coal exporter, followed by Australia.
In the West, U.S. coal production was down 47% as compared to 2011 levels, and the descent is likely to continue with the clean energy transition.
Oil Production
In 2021, the United States, Russia, and Saudi Arabia were the three largest crude oil producers, respectively.
| Rank | Country | 2021 Oil Production (million tonnes) | % of Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | 🇺🇸 U.S. | 711.1 | 17% |
| #2 | 🇷🇺 Russia | 536.4 | 13% |
| #3 | 🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia | 515.0 | 12% |
| #4 | 🇨🇦 Canada | 267.1 | 6% |
| #5 | 🇮🇶 Iraq | 200.8 | 5% |
| #6 | 🇨🇳 China | 198.9 | 5% |
| #7 | 🇮🇷 Iran | 167.7 | 4% |
| #8 | 🇦🇪 UAE | 164.4 | 4% |
| #9 | 🇧🇷 Brazil | 156.8 | 4% |
| #10 | 🇰🇼 Kuwait | 131.1 | 3% |
| 🌍 Other | 1172.0 | 28% | |
| Total | 4221.4 | 100% |
OPEC countries, including Saudi Arabia, made up the largest share of production at 35% or 1.5 billion tonnes of oil.
U.S. oil production has seen significant growth since 2010. In 2021, the U.S. extracted 711 million tonnes of oil, more than double the 333 million tonnes produced in 2010.
Natural Gas Production
The world produced 4,036 billion cubic meters of natural gas in 2021. The above graphic converts that into an equivalent of seven billion cubic meters of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to visualize it on the same scale as oil and gas.
Here are the top 10 producers of natural gas in 2021:
| Rank | Country | 2021 Natural Gas Production (billion m3) | % of Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | 🇺🇸 U.S. | 934.2 | 23% |
| #2 | 🇷🇺 Russia | 701.7 | 17% |
| #3 | 🇮🇷 Iran | 256.7 | 6% |
| #4 | 🇨🇳 China | 209.2 | 5% |
| #5 | 🇶🇦 Qatar | 177.0 | 4% |
| #6 | 🇨🇦 Canada | 172.3 | 4% |
| #7 | 🇦🇺 Australia | 147.2 | 4% |
| #8 | 🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia | 117.3 | 3% |
| #9 | 🇳🇴 Norway | 114.3 | 3% |
| #10 | 🇩🇿 Algeria | 100.8 | 2% |
| 🌍 Other | 1106.3 | 27% | |
| Total | 4,036.9 | 100% |
The U.S. was the largest producer, with Texas and Pennsylvania accounting for 47% of its gas production. The U.S. electric power and industrial sectors account for around one-third of domestic natural gas consumption.
Russia, the next-largest producer, was the biggest exporter of gas in 2021. It exported an estimated 210 billion cubic meters of natural gas via pipelines to Europe and China. Around 80% of Russian natural gas comes from operations in the Arctic region.
Energy
What Electricity Sources Power the World?
Coal still leads the charge when it comes to electricity, representing 35% of global power generation.
What Powered the World in 2022?
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In 2022, 29,165.2 terawatt hours (TWh) of electricity was generated around the world, an increase of 2.3% from the previous year.
In this visualization, we look at data from the latest Statistical Review of World Energy, and ask what powered the world in 2022.
Coal is Still King
Coal still leads the charge when it comes to electricity, representing 35.4% of global power generation in 2022, followed by natural gas at 22.7%, and hydroelectric at 14.9%.
Source: Energy Institute
Over three-quarters of the world’s total coal-generated electricity is consumed in just three countries. China is the top user of coal, making up 53.3% of global coal demand, followed by India at 13.6%, and the U.S. at 8.9%.
Burning coal—for electricity, as well as metallurgy and cement production—is the world’s single largest source of CO2 emissions. Nevertheless, its use in electricity generation has actually grown 91.2% since 1997, the year when the first global climate agreement was signed in Kyoto, Japan.
Renewables on the Rise
However, even as non-renewables enjoy their time in the sun, their days could be numbered.
In 2022, renewables, such as wind, solar, and geothermal, represented 14.4% of total electricity generation with an extraordinary annual growth rate of 14.7%, driven by big gains in solar and wind. Non-renewables, by contrast, only managed an anemic 0.4%.
The authors of the Statistical Review do not include hydroelectric in their renewable calculations, even though many others, including the International Energy Agency, consider it a “well-established renewable power technology.”
With hydroelectric moved into the renewable column, together they accounted for over 29.3% of all electricity generated in 2022, with an annual growth rate of 7.4%.
France’s Nuclear Horrible Year
Another big mover in this year’s report was nuclear energy.
In addition to disruptions at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine, shutdowns in France’s nuclear fleet to address corrosion found in the safety injection systems of four reactors led to a 4% drop in global use, year-over-year.
The amount of electricity generated by nuclear energy in that country dropped 22% to 294.7 TWh in 2022. As a result, France went from being the world’s biggest exporter of electricity, to a net importer.
Powering the Future
Turning mechanical energy into electrical energy is a relatively straightforward process. Modern power plants are engineering marvels, to be sure, but they still work on the same principle as the very first generator invented by Michael Faraday in 1831.
But how you get the mechanical energy is where things get complicated: coal powered the first industrial revolution, but heated the planet in the process; wind is free and clean, but is unreliable; and nuclear fission reliably generates emission-free electricity, but also creates radioactive waste.
With temperature records being set around the world in the summer, resolving these tensions isn’t just academic and next year’s report could be a crucial test of the world’s commitment to a clean energy future.
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