U.S. ENERGY INFORMATION ADMINISTRATION
WASHINGTON DC 20585

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 29, 1998

Total world energy consumption grew about 3 percent in 1995 and again in 1996, suggesting upward pressures on world energy use at the end of a decade (1987-1996) that averaged 2 percent annual growth. Three countries -- the United States, Russia, and China -- produced 40 percent and consumed 42 percent of the world's energy in 1996. Regionally, between 1987 and 1996, Latin America had the highest annual rate of growth of energy production (5 percent) and Asia had the highest annual rate of growth of energy consumption (5 percent).

According to the International Energy Annual 1996, released January 20, 1998, by the Energy Information Administration, world carbon dioxide emissions from the consumption of fossil fuels (petroleum, natural gas, and coal) grew by about 2 percent during 1996 and at an average growth rate of 1 percent per year over the ten years, 1987-1996. Carbon dioxide emission growth rates lag overall energy consumption growth rates because of the increasing role of natural gas (a fuel that is less carbon-intensive than oil or coal), growth in demand for oil and gas uses that sequester part of their carbon (such as chemicals), and the growth of forms of energy that do not emit carbon dioxide, including hydroelectricity, nuclear power, geothermal power, solar, and wind electric power. The principal sources of carbon dioxide emissions in 1996 were petroleum (41 percent), followed by coal (39 percent) and natural gas (20 percent).

Other international energy highlights for 1996 include:

• Five countries (United States, Russia, China, Saudi Arabia, and Canada) produced half the world's energy in 1996.

• Five countries (United States, China, Russia, Japan, and Germany) consumed half the world's energy in 1996.

• Natural gas has grown as a portion of total world energy consumption -- rising from 20 percent in 1987 to 22 percent in 1996. During the same decade, petroleum dropped from 40 percent to 39 percent and coal fell from 27 percent to 25 percent.

• Energy consumption in Asia grew about 3 percent in 1996 and faster (5 percent per year) than any region of the world between 1987 and 1996.

• Though energy consumption in Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union dropped by 2 percent during 1996, this was the smallest decline since 1990 and may have marked the beginning of the end of sagging energy markets in these countries.

The International Energy Annual 1996 is currently available in PDF format at the EIA FTP site (ftp://ftp.eia.doe.gov/pub/pdf/international/021996.pdf) and will be available shortly in HTML format on EIA's World Wide Web Site (http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/iea/contents.html). Tables from the publication are also available as spreadsheets through the "energy data" categories at the top of EIA's International Energy Web Page (http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/international/contents.html). The document will be made available on the EIA CD-ROM, Energy InfoDisc. Published copies will be available in February from the U.S. Government Printing Office, 202-512-1800, or through EIA's National Energy Information Center, 202-586-8800.

EIA Program Contact: Louis DeMouy, 202-586-8994, louis.demouy@eia.doe.gov
EIA Press Contact: Thomas Welch, 202/586-1178, thomas.welch@eia.doe.gov

EIA-98-05

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