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Course: AP®︎/College Environmental science > Unit 5
Lesson 1: Intro to energy resources and consumptionGlobal energy use
Review your understanding of global energy use in this free article aligned to AP standards.
Key points:
- The most widely used sources of energy around the world are fossil fuels such as oil, coal, and natural gas. These fuels are nonrenewable resources because they exist in a fixed amount and cannot be easily replaced.
- Across the globe, the use of fossil fuels is unevenly distributed. The largest per capita fossil fuel consumption tends to occur in developed countries. The term developed is generally used to describe countries that have relatively high levels of industrialization and income.
- The smallest per capita fossil fuel use tends to occur in developing countries. The term developing is generally used to describe countries that have relatively low levels of industrialization and income.
- Global energy demand is increasing as countries become more industrialized and populations grow.
- People’s energy use depends largely on availability, price, and governmental regulations. For example, if an energy source is readily available, people are more likely to use it. If energy prices are low, people are likely to use more energy than if prices are high. And, regulations can incentivize or limit energy use depending on a government's policy goals.
Want to join the conversation?
Why do some places use up more energy than others?(2 votes)
Regions with colder climate have to consume more energy to keep themselves warm. (that's one perspective)(6 votes)
How does Canada use more energy than the US? I thought the US used some of the most energy.(1 vote)
I think it’s because the graph says, “Energy Use Per Person,” not, “Total Energy Used.” So apparently, even though the US has 400 million people and Canada has 40 million people, each individual in Canada uses more energy than their American counterparts. Maybe they need lots of heating :)(4 votes)
- How do they keep all the energy(1 vote)
Generally, oil, coal and natural gas are stored carefully in specific containers. If they need to use the energy, they will burn it in order to produce it.
For renewable energy, they will store in batteries since in the facility that generate renewable energy, it already changed to chemical energy.(3 votes)
- in daytime who uses most the energy(3 votes)
- is there a way to get energy without damaging earth(1 vote)
- I guess solar panels do that, right?(1 vote)
What can you do as a individual to lower this(1 vote)- Who use the most energy in a month?(1 vote)
- how do we determine if these fussil was actual beast(1 vote)
Hat cause places to use more energy than other places(1 vote)
How much energy does the globe consume by each energy end-use sector/ district ?(1 vote)
