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Energy Outlook 2023 part 2: How energy is used

Release date:
5 July 2023
Where does energy go? And how may that change? That’s the focus of a new chapter in the bp Energy Outlook 2023, ‘How energy is used’. Before you dive in, test your knowledge with our latest quiz

This new publication looks at how the energy we use in our everyday lives may change over the next 30 years. It highlights some of the main opportunities and uncertainties of energy in industry, transport and buildings. The energy transition is likely to increase the range of energy choices available to energy users, so insights like these are more necessary than ever.

 

This chapter follows the publication of the wider bp Energy Outlook 2023 in January. For the bigger picture you can download the full report here. 

Which of these activities makes up almost 50% of energy in residential and commercial buildings today?
Correct answer! The largest requirement for energy in residential and commercial buildings today is heating and water, with natural gas being the most widely used fuel for providing both.

Oops, wrong answer! The largest requirement for energy in residential and commercial buildings today is heating and water, with natural gas being the most widely used fuel for providing both.

What makes up almost a quarter of energy use in residential and commercial buildings today?
Correct answer! For example, in developing economies, energy for cooking is currently dominated by the use of traditional biomass (62%).

Oops, wrong answer! The correct answer is energy for cooking. For example, in developing economies, this is currently dominated by the use of traditional biomass (62%).

Which sector is the largest consumer of end-use energy across all three scenarios in 2050?
Correct! Industry accounts for 38% of global final energy consumption in the Accelerated and Net Zero scenarios, and 40% in New Momentum. Transport accounts for between 22% and 27%, and buildings between 27% and 28% across all three scenarios.

Oops, wrong answer! Industry accounts for 38% of global final energy consumption in the Accelerated and Net Zero scenarios, and 40% in New Momentum. Transport accounts for between 22% and 27%, and buildings between 27% and 28% across all three scenarios.

Which form of energy is expected to play the largest role in decarbonizing heavy vehicles across all three scenarios by 2050?
Correct answer! The largest role is played by electricity. In the Accelerated scenario, the global total of battery electric heavy vehicles reaches around 70 million (48% of the total number of heavy vehicles on the road).

Oops, wrong answer! The largest role is played by electricity. In the Accelerated scenario, the global total of battery electric heavy vehicles reaches around 70 million (48% of the total number of heavy vehicles on the road).

Aviation demand in 2019 was 6 trillion passenger-kilometres. Across all three scenarios, what does it grow to by 2050?
Correct answer! Aviation demand doubles by 2050 to 12 trillion passenger-kilometres across all three scenarios.

Oops, wrong answer! Aviation demand doubles by 2050 to 12 trillion passenger-kilometres across all three scenarios.

EO23 – how energy is used – montage

Read the new chapter of the bp Energy Outlook 2023, ‘How energy is used’

About Energy Outlook 2023

The Outlook is focused on three scenarios (Accelerated, Net Zero and New Momentum) and they explore what may happen to energy over the next three decades.

 

These scenarios are not predictions of what is likely to happen, or what bp would like to happen. Rather, they are designed to span a wide range of possible outcomes. In doing so, they can inform bp’s core beliefs about the energy transition and help to shape a bp strategy that is resilient to the uncertainty surrounding the speed and nature of the energy transition. 

The three scenarios


Accelerated and Net Zero explore how different elements of the energy system might change to achieve a substantial reduction in carbon emissions. They can be viewed as ‘what if’ scenarios: what might need to change if the world collectively takes action for CO2-equivalent emissions (CO2e) to fall by around 75% by 2050 (relative to 2019 levels) in Accelerated and over 95% in Net Zero. 

 

New Momentum is designed to capture the broad trajectory along which the global energy system is currently travelling. It places weight on the marked increase in global ambition for decarbonization in recent years, as well as on the manner and speed of it over the recent past. CO2e emissions in New Momentum peak in the late-2020s and by 2050, are around 20% below 2019 levels. 

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Energy Outlook 2023 part 1 – the quiz

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