Fossil fuel major BP has revealed that growth in energy demand was declining even before the coronavirus pandemic spread globally, keeping consumers under lockdown and sending prices to record lows.
The oil major’s annual Statistical Review of World Energy showed that growth in primary energy consumption slowed to 1.3 per cent in 2019, almost half the rate of a year earlier.
Bloomberg newsagency reports renewable energy comprised the bulk of that growth, overtaking nuclear in its share of power generation for the first time.
At the same time coal consumption continued to decline, falling to its lowest level in 16 years.
Carbon emissions from energy use grew by just half a percentage point.
However, BP’s CEO warned against optimism as the deceleration came after a big increase in emission growth of 2.1 per cent in 2018.
“The hope was that as the one-off factors boosting carbon emissions in 2018 unwound, carbon emissions would significantly fall,” BP CEO Bernard Looney said. “That did not happen, ” he added.
The London-based oil and gas major, like its European peers, has set out an ambition to drastically reduce its carbon emissions by 2050.
“The technologies required to reach net zero exist today, the challenge is to use them at pace and scale, and I remain optimistic that we can make this happen, Mr Looney said.
In order to achieve the goal, BP has set out plans to reorganise the company, which involve laying off thousands of employees.
Mr Looney added that despite last year’s decline, coal was still the single largest source of power generation, accounting for over 36 per cent of global power.
BP announced a major write down to the value of its business on Monday as the pandemic is forcing it to accelerate a shift into cleaner energy, the company said.
Oil consumption increased by 0.9 million barrels a day, with China the biggest driver, accounting for more than three quarters of net global growth, followed by India and Indonesia.
The Asian nation, which saw its consumption plummet at the beginning of this year as it imposed some of the harshest lockdown measures in the world, led growth in oil, natural gas, coal as well as renewables.
The United States and Germany saw the largest drops.
Supply growth in liquefied natural gas (LNG) was driven by the US and Russia, with additional supplies mostly imported by Europe.
Production grew ahead of demand sending prices 20 per cent lower on average.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) said earlier this month that natural gas consumption is set to slump by four per cent this year, the biggest-ever drop in demand for the fuel.
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