2.1.1

Increasing Energy Consumption

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Why is Energy Consumption Rising?

The global demand for energy is increasing for 4 main reasons:

Illustrative background for Economic development and industrialisationIllustrative background for Economic development and industrialisation ?? "content

Economic development and industrialisation

  • As countries develop, people's standard of living rises and they demand more goods and services.
  • The USA consumes 17% of the world's energy despite having only 5% of the world's population.
  • More countries becoming more economically developed will increase the demand for energy and electricity.
  • Manufacturing new products normally uses lots of energy and lots of water.
Illustrative background for Increasing global population sizeIllustrative background for Increasing global population size ?? "content

Increasing global population size

  • The global population was 2.6 billion people in 1950.
  • The global population was 6.1 billion people in 2000.
  • The global population was 7.8 billion people in 2020.
    • The world contains 5.2 billion more people than 70 years ago.
  • More people will consume more energy.
  • Population projections try to forecast the future population size. The global population is expected to be 9.8 billion by 2050.
Illustrative background for Advances in technologyIllustrative background for Advances in technology ?? "content

Advances in technology

  • Technology like cars, computers, smartphones, lighting, and smart TVs have increased people's quality of life. However, all of these things need energy or electricity to run.
  • Although technology encourages the consumption of more energy, some innovations, like Tesla's electric cars can be more energy-efficient and save energy.
Illustrative background for UrbanisationIllustrative background for Urbanisation ?? "content

Urbanisation

  • Urbanisation generally happens at the same time as development, so it can be hard to tell if urbanisation or development is the cause.
  • Lots of people living in the same place means that public transport works better. Public transport is more energy efficient.
  • However, incomes are generally higher in cities, so people consume more and use more energy.

Jump to other topics

1Physical Geography

1.1River Environments

1.2Coastal Environments

1.3Hazardous Environments - Tropical Cyclones

1.4Hazardous Environments - Earthquakes & Volcanoes

2Human Geography

3Global Issues

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