Per capita energy consumption averaged ****** kilowatt-hours worldwide in 2024. This was up from a pandemic-induced slump in 2020. Qatar has the highest per capita energy consumption of any country worldwide.

Coal consumption within the electric power sector in the United States fell to 373.8 million short tons in 2024. In the past decade, there has been a marked decline in the use of coal for electricity generation. Coal consumption peaked between 2005 and 2008, when over one billion short tons were used every year. However, with the promotion of natural gas as a bridge-fuel toward a greener power sector, coal as the dirtiest of fossil fuels has fallen out of favor and natural gas has succeeded coal in becoming the main fuel type used for electricity generation in the U.S. Coal use by sector Coal is used primarily by the power sector. An Edison plant built for New York City in 1882 was the first coal-fired electricity plant in the U.S. By the 1950s, coal was considered the leading source of fuel for electricity generation. Declines in coal usage occurred around 2007, amidst the increased availability of renewables and natural gas. Apart from the use of thermal coal for power production, coking coal is an important raw material used for steelmaking, and the industrial sector still consumes around one quadrillion British thermal unit every year. Coal power use around the world The U.S. is the third largest consumer of coal in the world, following China and India. China’s consumption exceeds the total of many other countries combined, reaching 92 exajoules compared to U.S.' 7.9 exajoules. Fossil fuels are still a primary source of fuel around the world. U.S. fossil fuel consumption reached some 77.4 quadrillion British thermal units in 2024.

Publications containing historical energy statistics make it possible to estimate fossil fuel CO2 emissions back to 1751. Etemad et al. (1991) published a summary compilation that tabulates coal, brown coal, peat, and crude oil production by nation and year. Footnotes in the Etemad et al.(1991) publication extend the energy statistics time series back to 1751. Summary compilations of fossil fuel trade were published by Mitchell (1983, 1992, 1993, 1995). Mitchell's work tabulates solid and liquid fuel imports and exports by nation and year. These pre-1950 production and trade data were digitized and CO2 emission calculations were made following the procedures discussed in Marland and Rotty (1984) and Boden et al. (1995). Further details on the contents and processing of the historical energy statistics are provided in Andres et al. (1999). The 1950 to present CO2 emission estimates are derived primarily from energy statistics published by the United Nations (2017), using the methods of Marland and Rotty (1984). The energy statistics were compiled primarily from annual questionnaires distributed by the U.N. Statistical Office and supplemented by official national statistical publications. As stated in the introduction of the Statistical Yearbook, in a few cases, official sources are supplemented by other sources and estimates, where these have been subjected to professional scrutiny and debate and are consistent with other independent sources. Data from the U.S. Department of Interior's Geological Survey (USGS 2017) were used to estimate CO2 emitted during cement production. Values for emissions from gas flaring were derived primarily from U.N. data but were supplemented with data from the U.S. Department of Energy's Energy Information Administration (1994), Rotty (1974), and data provided by G. Marland. Greater details about these methods are provided in Marland and Rotty (1984), Boden et al. (1995), and Andres et al. (1999). Since 1751 just over 400 billion metric tonnes of carbon have been released to the atmosphere from the consumption of fossil fuels and cement production. Half of these fossil-fuel CO2 emissions have occurred since the late 1980s. The 2014 global fossil-fuel carbon emission estimate, 9855 million metric tons of carbon, represents an all-time high and a 0.8% increase over 2013 emissions. The slight increase continues a three-year trend of modest annual growth under 2% per year. This modest growth comes on the heels of a quick recovery from the 2008-2009 Global Financial Crisis which had obvious short-term economic and energy use consequences, particularly in North America and Europe. Globally, liquid and solid fuels accounted for 75.1% of the emissions from fossil-fuel burning and cement production in 2014. Combustion of gas fuels (e.g., natural gas) accounted for 18.5% (1823 million metric tons of carbon) of the total emissions from fossil fuels in 2014 and reflects a gradually increasing global utilization of natural gas. Emissions from cement production (568 million metric tons of carbon in 2014) have more than doubled in the last decade and now represent 5.8% of global CO2 releases from fossil-fuel burning and cement production. Gas flaring, which accounted for roughly 2% of global emissions during the 1970s, now accounts for less than 1% of global fossil-fuel releases. Since 1751 approximately 392 billion metric tonnes of carbon have been released to the atmosphere from the consumption of fossil fuels and cement production. Half of these fossil-fuel CO2 emissions have occurred since the mid 1980s. The 2013 global fossil-fuel carbon emission estimate, 9776 million metric tons of carbon, represents an all-time high and a 1.1% increase over 2012 emissions. The increase continues a quick recovery from the 2008-2009 Global Financial Crisis which had obvious short-term economic and energy use consequences, particularly in North America and Europe. Globally, liquid and solid fuels accounted for 75.2% of the emissions from fossil-fuel burning and cement production in 2013. Combustion of gas fuels (e.g., natural gas) accounted for 18.5% (1806 million metric tons of carbon) of the total emissions from fossil fuels in 2013 and reflects a gradually increasing global utilization of natural gas. Emissions from cement production (554 million metric tons of carbon in 2013) have more than doubled in the last decade and now represent 5.7% of global CO2 releases from fossil-fuel burning and cement production. Gas flaring, which accounted for roughly 2% of global emissions during the 1970s, now accounts for less than 1% of global fossil-fuel releases.

Global carbon dioxide emissions for 1950 through 1982 were estimated by Marland and Rotty (1984) from fuel production data from the U.N. Energy Statistics Yearbook (1983, 1984). Data before 1950 came from Keeling (1973). Fuel-production data were used in these calculations because they appeared to be more reliable on a global basis than fuel-consumption data. The data given are the year and annual global CO2 emissions (annual global total; cumulative global total since 1860; and annual global emissions from solid fuels, liquid fuels, natural gas, gas flaring, and cement manufacturing). These data provide the only pre-1950 estimates of the amount of carbon emitted to the atmosphere from fossil-fuel burning. The CO2 emission record since 1950 has been updated and revised several times with the most recent estimates being published by Marland et al. (1989). For access to the data files, click this link to the CDIAC data transition website: http://cdiac.ess-dive.lbl.gov/ndps/ndp006.html

This third edition of the World Handbook of Political and Social Indicators is composed of four files, one aggregate data file (Part 1), and three events data files including a daily events political data file (Part 2), an annual political events data file (Part 3), and a new quarterly political events data file (Part 4). The aggregate data file (Part 1) is based upon data from the base years of 1950, 1955, 1960, 1965, 1970, and 1975. It contains political, economic, and social data and rates of change for 155 countries. Data are provided for central government current revenue and expenditure, gross national product and growth rates, imports, exports, and trade as a percentage of the gross national product, total military expenditure and manpower, public education, public health expenditure, energy consumption, coal, natural gas, and petroleum reserves and production, GINI measures of inequity, income inequity, sectorial inequity, coefficient of land inequality, political and civil rights indices, political and economic discrimination, the percentage of those discriminated against and its intensity, the proportion and intensity of separatism, voting behavior, the number of registered voters and voter turnout as a percentage of the adult population, the first five largest political parties, total legislative seats, total adult and working age population, population density, percentage of population in cities, agricultural density, health and nutrition measures, consumption measures, literacy, and school enrollment. Data are also provided for the percentage of the labor force in agriculture, industry, and the services, organized labor, industrial disputes and the number of working days lost, the life expectancy for males and females, infant mortality rates, and estimated birth rates and death rates, as well as the number of scientific authors, physicians per million population, total piped water, and newspapers, radios, television sets, and telephones per 1000 population. There are three files of events data in this collection. The first file records daily political events, the second aggregates these events to an annual file, and the third aggregates the same events into a quarterly file. The Daily Event Data file (Part 2) contains a variety of governmental change and political protest events for 139 countries. It records 38 kinds of domestic events including demonstrations, riots, strikes, assassinations, elections, referenda, and imposition of political restrictions, including censorship. Some of the 38 event types were only distinguished for the events occurring in particular periods. For example, the categories of bombing, ambush, raid, arrest, release of the arrested, imposition of martial law or curfew, and relaxation of martial law or curfew were added in 1978. The Annual Events Data file consists of summations of the occurrences of each type of event within each country on a year-to-year basis from 1948 to 1977. The annual totals are given for the same countries as in the daily file, with the exception of three countries. The Quarterly Event Data file consists of summations of the occurrences of each type of event within each country on a quarter-to-quarter basis. The 38 types of events coded in the quarterly events file have also been collapsed to 17 broader categories to maintain comparability with earlier editions of the handbook.

Global carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels and industry totaled 37.01 billion metric tons (GtCO₂) in 2023. Emissions are projected to have risen 1.08 percent in 2024 to reach a record high of 37.41 GtCO₂. Since 1990, global CO₂ emissions have increased by more than 60 percent. Who are the biggest emitters? The biggest contributor to global GHG emissions is China, followed by the United States. China wasn't always the world's biggest emitter, but rapid economic growth and industrialization in recent decades have seen emissions there soar. Since 1990, CO₂ emissions in China have increased by almost 450 percent. By comparison, U.S. CO₂ emissions have fallen by 6.1 percent. Nevertheless, the North American country remains the biggest carbon polluter in history. Global events cause emissions to drop The outbreak of COVID-19 caused global CO₂ emissions to plummet some 5.5 percent in 2020 as a result of lockdowns and other restrictions. However, this wasn't the only time in recent history when a major global event caused emissions reductions. For example, the global recession resulted in CO₂ levels to fall by almost two percent in 2009, while the recession in the early 1980s also had a notable impact on emissions. On a percentage basis, the largest annual reduction was at the end of the Second World War in 1945, when emissions decreased by 17 percent.

The United States was the biggest emitter in history as of 2023, having released some *** billion metric tons of carbon dioxide (GtCO₂) into the atmosphere since the birth of the industrial revolution. This accounted for roughly a quarter of all historical CO₂ produced from fossil fuels and industry. China is the second-largest contributor to historical emissions, having released over *** GtCO₂. CO₂ is a greenhouse gas and the main driver of climate change and rising temperatures. Regional emissions Europe had accounted for almost 100 percent of global cumulative CO₂ emissions produced between 1750 and 1850, with the United Kingdom the biggest contributor. However, the region's share of emissions shrank in the following decades as the U.S. emerged as a major industrial power. By 1950, the U.S.'s share of historical global CO₂ emissions had increased to ** percent, while Europe's had fallen to ** percent. China's contribution to historical emissions has soared Between 1750 and 1950, China had contributed less than one percent of total CO₂ emissions ever produced. However, soaring emissions in China in recent decades has seen the country's share of historical emissions rise to ** percent. This growth has been driven by China's rapid industrialization and its reliance on coal consumption for energy.

Domestic biomass fuels (biofuels) are estimated to be the second largest source of carbon emissions from global biomass burning. Wood and charcoal provide approximately 90% and 10% of domestic energy in tropical Africa, respectively. As part of the Southern Africa Regional Science Initiative (SAFARI 2000), the University of Montana participated in both ground-based and airborne campaigns during the southern African dry season of 2000 to measure trace gas emissions from biofuel production and use and savanna fires, respectively.In September of 2000, ground-based, open-path Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (OP-FTIR) was used to quantify 18 of the most abundant trace gases emitted by wood and charcoal cooking fires and an earthen, charcoal-making kiln in Zambia. These are the first, in-situ measurements of an extensive suite of trace gases emitted by tropical biofuel burning.This data set provides biofuel burning emission ratios and emission factors from field measurements for the following trace gases (in order of abundance): carbon dioxide (CO2); carbon monoxide (CO); methane (CH4); acetic acid (CH3COOH); methanol (CH3OH); formaldehyde (HCHO); ethene (C2H4); ammonia (NH3); acetylene (C2H2); nitric oxide (NO); ethane (C2H6); phenol (C6H5OH); propene (C3H6); formic acid (HCOOH); nitrogen dioxide (NO2), hydroxyacetaldehyde (HOCH2COH); and furan (C4H4O). The files are ASCII text files in comma-separated-value format. All emission factors units are grams of compound emitted per kilogram of dry fuel. Emission ratios are dimensionless.