Energy Consumption Data Analysis

In analyzing the data below (graph A), it is apparent that world wide energy usage has increased drastically, most significantly with biofuels and waste with natural gas to be noted as well. Combined with the table (B), it is clear that not only have the individual categories of energy have increased, but that the countries who have the highest levels of consumption also have higher percents of the World GDP in the year the data was collected, 2002.

To begin, the increase of total primary energy supply from 1971 to 2013 is likely due to the increase in the world population from 3,766,754,345 in 1971 to 7,162,119,434 in 2013. An increase in the population likely caused more resources to be consumed, hence the gradual increase over the years on graph A. In terms of the specific resources, our consumer culture has widely contributed to the peak in biofuels and waste being consumed, as well as natural gas as urban populations grow and develop. This leads to the individual country consumption, as depicted in graph B. The world population doesn't have any direct correlation to the consumption of energy by country, which is surprising as it does in general with the overall usage. Instead, it seems that countries who are more developed consume more, with development being determined by the country's percent of the world GDP in 2002. For example, the United States in 2001 had 4.6% of the world's population, but consumed 24% of the world's energy. Alternatively, China had 20% of the world's population but consumed only 11% of the world's energy. The difference in these two countries and correlation in the data lies in the GDP; the United States had 32% of the world's GDP and China only contributed 4%. Based on the data supplied and the countries listed, one can infer that there is a correlation between GDP and energy consumption, with countries of higher world GDP consuming more of the world's energy.

A.

B. 

My personal energy footprint is something that I have become more conscious of in recent years, as I have begun to analyze my utility bill and electric energy consumption. However, upon taking the quiz on nature.org (graph below) regarding my energy consumption behavior, my greatest use of energy was home energy at 57.7% as compared to the U.S. average breakdown at 36.8%. I find this surprising as I take measures to decrease my consumption, however am unable to buy more efficient appliances because I am in college and will not live in my apartment forever. I had also never considered flying as a category of my carbon footprint, however flying was my second highest level of consumption. I see this as inevitable as if you have somewhere you need to be sometimes a flight is the only option, however it is unfortunate the impact that it has on the environment. Finally, recycling is something that I do not do but know I should, but I am unable to do so due to lack of resources to do so. My street does not offer recycling as part of the trash pickup and I do not have a car to take my recyclables to a local collection sight. It is things like this that are more of a structural issue with the city and local areas to help residents offset their carbon footprints that don't exist, thus consumption remains high. I believe that I consume no more than the average individual in my area, as I do turn off the lights as I leave and take other small measures to ensure decreased consumption as I know our planet is not invincible. As for 20 years from now, it is not clear to me what my carbon footprint will be although in the quiz it remained the same. However, based on the prior graph A the world trend seems to be increasing, therefore while my personal carbon footprint may remain the same, globally it will increase, a troubling thought for a world with limited resources.