Annual primary energy consumption580 quintillion J
460 billionCar fuel tanks
41.7US annual grids
~580 EJ in 2023; IEA World Energy Outlook
Photo from Wikimedia Commons
World's Annual Energy Consumption
Civilization runs on 580 exajoules per year and counting/Collective & Conceptual
Global primary energy consumption reached approximately 580 exajoules in 2023, with fossil fuels still accounting for roughly 80% of the total. This works out to an average continuous power draw of about 18.4 terawatts for all of civilization: transportation, industry, heating, cooling, and that phone charger you leave plugged in 24/7. For perspective, the Sun delivers about 174 petawatts to Earth's upper atmosphere, so we use roughly 0.01% of the available solar energy.
Measurements
Average continuous power draw18.4 trillion W
18.4 billionLeaf blowers
18,400Nuclear plants
18.4 quadrillionFireflies
~18.4 TW; energy per year converted to average watts
Global electricity generation9.5 trillion W
6.3 billionPool pumps
2.6 billionLawnmowers
158,333Cruise ships
~29,900 TWh/year ≈ ~3.4 TW average; electricity is ~52% of total energy use
Per capita annual energy71.6 billion J
716 sextillionGamma ray photons
216,970Boiled kettles
17.1 millionFood calories
~71.6 GJ per person per year; varies 10× between countries
Annual CO2 emissions37.3 trillion kg
124 quintillionSpider silk strands
74.6 quadrillionHummingbird eggs
~37.3 billion tonnes of CO2 from fossil fuels (2023); ~4.6 tonnes per person