If there was one silver lining to emerge from the global credit crunch it was that many of us were forced to think more economically and reduce our reliance on fuel and oil in an effort to save money. However, hopes that this would lead to a reduction in production levels seem to have been mistaken.
According to Worldwatch Institute analysis, production of fossil fuels – namely oil, coal and natural gas – actually increased by 2.9 per cent in 2008 to reach 27.4million tons.
In the first half of the year producers strained to meet demand only for the market to be swamped by excess supply when the recession took hold later in the year. Oil peaked at $144 a barrel in July but fell back to $34 per barrel in December. So it seems that though the global economic crisis caused a temporary slump in demand the long-term trend for increases in fossil fuel consumption in developing countries has surpassed that in industrialised countries. It is expected that demand in developing countries will only continue at these high levels due to development to raise the standard of living.
The leader in the growth of fossil fuel production is coal, which, in 2000, provided 28 per cent of the world's fossil fuel energy production. By 2008 however, it represented a third of fossil energy production. Oil production reached 10.7Mtoe per day in 2008, representing 39 per cent of fossil energy production and slightly higher than the 2006 levels, which was the next highest production year.
Natural gas production meanwhile, has maintained a 27-28 per cent share of fossil energy production since 2000 and total gas production grew 3.8 per cent in 2008 to reach 7.6Mtoe per day.
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