Energy demand

This page is an attempt to estimate how much energy it takes to sustain a reasonable quality of life in a developed country.

Tables

Energy units: W (watts per capita, averaged over time. This is not the same as peak watts). (example)Suppose an electric car charger operates at 4800 watts, but the car is only charging for 2 hours per day on average. So the wattage averaged over time is 400 watts. Also note: If a family of 2 people owns 1 of these cars, then that's 200 watts per capita.

• Non-electric energy usage (fuel) is still measured in watts, this same way, for the sake of comparison.

oecd.energy.tfc

3784.37 Mtoe/year

OECD countries - energy usage - total final consumption

Key World Energy Statistics 2020 (IEA report)
- Page 49: OECD energy balance, 2018

oecd.population

1372683615

Number of people living in OECD countries

Population, total - World Bank Data
data.worldbank.org › indicator › SP.POP.TOTL

Using data from 2020

OECD countries are: Austria, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States.

	Status quo[''']based on OECD countries, most of which are developed	Status quo, electrified[''']all vehicles electric instead of fossil fuels ~ Estimated based on the energy footprint of lithium-ion batteries.	Minimal consumption[''']Involves major personal & social changes: ~ Public transit and walkability ~ Frugalism ~ Abolishing planned obsolescence and code bloat
Residential - heating [''']~ varies with the weather and local climate ~ energy may be fuel or electricity
Residential - hot water [''']~ varies with the weather and local climate ~ energy may be fuel or electricity
Residential - cooling [''']~ varies with the weather and local climate ~ energy may be fuel or electricity
Residential - other [''']Entirely electricity - anything that isn't used for heating/cooling or hot water. A lot of websites that teach you how to "save energy" are centered on this. But as you can see, it's actually quite a small part of energy demand!
Commercial [''']This is not split into heating/cooling/misc (unlike for residential) due to lack of more detailed data.
Industrial [''']Almost all of this is manufacturing. Other industrial processes include agriculture & mining (surprisingly minor in terms of energy use).
Transportation [''']Includes passenger vehicles, freight trucks, and to a lesser extent: trains, planes and ships
Total	3658 W oecd.energy.tfc / oecd.populationW(calculation loading)

All datapoints are cited from Key World Energy Statistics 2020 (IEA report) unless otherwise specified.

Note on reducing environmental impacts

• When it comes to climate change: Energy usage is the main culprit.
  • Home electricity is just a small part of this. The best thing people can do is drive less and buy less.
    • Note: This is targeted at the average person who lives in a developed country. If you are poor, you probably don't need to consume less. 
• When it comes to habitat loss: Land usage is the main culprit.
  • The best thing people can do is eat more plant-based and waste less food.

See also

• Energy demand scenarios (an older analysis)