atw Vol. 64 (2019) | Issue 4 ı April
Feature | Major Trends in Energy Policy and Nuclear Power
The Role of Resources and Reserves
for the Global Energy Supply
Hans-Wilhelm Schiffer
The assured availability and competitiveness of the various energy sources, as well as climate compatibility, determine
their use. Conditions on the energy markets are also subject to continuous change. This article examines the extent to
which the availability of energy resources and the orientation of energy policies influence the energy mix, particularly
power generation. It also outlines strategies for achieving the energy policy goals – security of supply, value for money
and environmental compatibility (including climate protection) – in the best possible way.
Changes in the global energy mix since 1985
Global energy consumption has almost doubled since the
mid 1980s. Fossil fuels, i.e. oil, natural gas and coal, have
covered 80 % of this growth. Thus, the share of fossil fuels
in the coverage of total primary energy consumption has
decreased only slightly, from 89 % in 1985 to 85 % in 2017.
Although renewable energies have gained massively in
importance, especially in the last ten years, the contribution
of hydropower, wind and solar energy, biomass
and geothermal energy was still limited to a total of
11 % even in 2017. In 2017, nuclear power covered 4 %
of primary energy consumption (Figure 1).
The transport sector and the petrochemical industry
are the main users of oil. Natural gas is used primarily in
the heating market, by industry, private households and
small consumers, and additionally in power generation.
Coal is used predominantly and nuclear power exclusively
for power generation. To date, the renewable energies
have also been used preferably for power generation.
This applies to hydropower but also to solar energy and
wind power and, albeit to a lesser extent, to biomass and
geothermal energy.
Global power generation has almost tripled since 1985.
Two thirds of the growth achieved since then has been covered
by coal and natural gas. At 38 %, coal’s share of global
power generation in 2017 was exactly the same as in 1985.
It is true that oil’s contribution to power generation has
dropped by eight percentage points, but this was more
than offset by a nine percentage point increase in the share
of natural gas. Accordingly, there was no significant
change in fossil fuel’s share in power generation between
1985 and 2017. It was 65 % in 2017 and also in 2000 compared
to 64 % in 1985. From 1985 to 2017, the share of
nuclear power decreased by five percentage points to 10 %,
while the contribution of renewables increased by four
percentage points to 25 %. The strongest growth was in
solar and wind, particularly in the last ten years. Despite
absolute growth, the share of hydropower has fallen by
four percentage points since 1985. Nevertheless, hydropower
continues to make the greatest contribution to
power generation among the renewable energies in 2017
(Figure 2).
| | Fig. 1.
Worldwide primary energy consumption 1985 to 2017 in million (10 6 ) tce.
| | Fig. 2.
Worldwide mix in electricity generation 1985 to 2017 in TWh (terawatt hours = 10 12 watt hours).
FEATURE | MAJOR TRENDS IN ENERGY POLICY AND NUCLEAR POWER 191
Determining factors for the energy mix
in power generation by country
The energy mix of power generation in the various
countries and regions of the world is very different from
the global structures described above. There are two
crucial factors for this: the resource situation in each case
and the orientation of the energy policy. This becomes
clear in an exemplary examination of the situation in
selected countries (Figure 3).
| | Fig. 3.
Mix in electricity generation of selected countries in 2017 in %.
Feature
The Role of Resources and Reserves for the Global Energy Supply ı Hans-Wilhelm Schiffer
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