India’s energy demand outpaces global growth: IEA

India’s energy demand outpaced global demand growth in 2018 according to the International Energy Agency. The higher energy demand was driven by a global economy that expanded by 3.7 per cent in 2018, a higher pace than the average annual growth of 3.5 per cent seen since 2010. China, US, and India together accounted for nearly 70 per cent of the rise in energy demand.

According to the IEA’s Global Energy & CO2 status report, India saw primary energy demand increase 4 per cent or over 35 million tonne of oil equivalent. This accounts for 11 per cent of global demand growth.

Comparably, energy consumption worldwide grew by 2.3 per cent in 2018. This is nearly twice the average rate of growth since 2010. Global energy demand growth was driven by a robust economy as well as higher heating and cooling needs in some parts of the world, the IEA said.

The growth in India was led by coal for power generation and oil for transport.

The global oil demand rose by 1.3 per cent in 2018. This has been led by strong growth in the United States. The start-up of large petrochemical projects drove product demand, which partially offset a slowdown in growth in gasoline demand. The United States and China showed the largest overall growth. Demand fell in Japan and Korea and was stagnant in Europe.

Indian oil demand grew 5 per cent in 2018 compared to 2017, a year when demand was lower due to the impact of the implementation of the Goods and Service Tax and demonetisation.

“The sharp increase in oil prices in 2018, amplified by currency deterioration, contributed to slowing growth in the second half of the year. Rapid industrialisation and the fast pace of growth in vehicle fleets have caused severe air quality problems, and policies are being put in place to try to tackle the problem,” the IEA said.

But despite the growth in fossil fuel demand, per capita emissions in India remain low at 40 per cent of the global average. India saw a rise in emissions by 4.8 per cent, or 105 million tonne, with the growth split evenly between power and other sectors such as transport and industry.

Due to higher energy consumption, the global energy-related CO2 emissions increased to 33.1 gigatonnes (Gt) of CO2 in 2018. This is 1.7 per cent higher than the emission in 2017. “Coal-fired power generation continues to be the single largest emitter, accounting for 30 per cent of all energy-related carbon dioxide emissions,” the IEA said.

“While emissions from all fossil fuels increased, the power sector accounted for nearly two-thirds of emissions growth. Coal use in power alone surpassed 10 Gt CO2, mostly in Asia. China, India, and US accounted for 85 per cent of the net increase in emissions, while it declined for Germany, Japan, Mexico, France and the United Kingdom,” the IEA added.