As populations grow and low-income countries move towards urbanization, the global demand for energy is continuously increasing. Despite a drop in 2020 due to a reduction in economic activities during the coronavirus pandemic, the
has grown by 60 percent since the beginning of the century. China accounts by far for the
, as the Eastern country is one of the most populated.
Oil and gas companies top ranking of largest energy companies
Oil and gas producers have historically been the largest companies within the energy sector, as most of them are involved in various levels of the energy supply chain. State-owned enterprises such as China Petroleum & Chemical Corp (Sinopec) and Saudi Arabian Oil Co (Saudi Aramco) regularly rank as the
top energy companies by revenues generated. This is unsurprising given that petroleum products remain a ubiquitous part of everyday life, being the
primary source of energy consumption worldwide.
Renewable energy outlook
Although over 80 percent of the primary energy consumed worldwide was generated using fossil fuels in 2023, their contribution to the energy mix is forecast to decrease in the next decades, and renewables are projected to represent 17 percent of the
global primary energy demand by 2050. However, this would not remotely be enough to keep the global temperature increase below 1.5 degrees Celsius: according to a recent estimate, this would be accomplished only if renewables accounted for a 70 percent share of
global energy supply by that year.
Energy transition in focus
In recent years, many governments have begun readying their energy sector for a transition to emission-free sources. As the general public's awareness of humanity’s environmental footprint increases, so does the demand for greater
worldwide investment in sustainable energy. However, despite growing willingness, overhauling our energy systems while maintaining energy integrity and security remains a huge undertaking, and the
clean energy share in our electricity mix has changed little in the past decade. With the Russia-Ukraine war laying bare the issues surrounding import dependency (largely for fossil fuels), a quicker move to building up
global renewable capacity, particularly in Europe, is underway.
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