Energy use

Sydney Morning Herald
Wednesday 25/6/2008 Page: 12

Germany led the world in reducing energy consumption last year, the fuel company BP says. The BP Statistical Review Of World Energy found Germans used 5.6 per cent less oil, gas and coal in 2007 than in 2006. Most European countries recorded a fall. Australia had a small reduction (1.6 per cent), but the US increased use by 1.7 per cent. China (up by 7.7 per cent) and India (6.8 percent) had the highest increases in the Asia-Pacific area.

The report found that renewable energy (wind, solar and geothermal) accounts for just 1.5 per cent of global electricity but is on the increase. Wind power accounts for 20 per cent of electricity in Denmark, 10 per cent in Spain and 7 per cent in Germany; and geothermal power accounts for about a quarter of electricity in El Salvador and a fifth in the Philippines, Kenya and Iceland.