IEA: Global Energy Report 2020

The IEA has released its 2020 Global Energy Report. The current Covid-19 pandemic is first and foremost a global health crisis. The share of energy use due to containment measures jumped from 5% in mid-March to 50% in mid-April.

Beyond the direct health impacts, analysis of daily data up to mid-April shows that weekly energy demand fell by an average of 25% in countries under full lockdown, and by 18% in countries under partial lockdown.

Global energy demand fell by 3.8% in the first quarter of 2020.

Global coal demand was hit hardest, falling by nearly 8% compared to the first quarter of 2019.

Oil demand has also been hit hard, falling by almost 5% in the first quarter, mainly due to declines in mobility and aviation, which together account for nearly 60% of global oil demand.

The pandemic's impact on natural gas demand was more modest, at about 2%.

During full lockdowns in several countries, electricity demand fell by 20% or more as reductions in commercial and industrial operations far outweighed the rise in residential demand.

The widespread global recession caused by months of restrictions on mobility and social and economic activity led to a 6% contraction in energy demand, the largest in 70 years in percentage terms and the largest ever in absolute terms.

All fuels will be affected:

Oil demand could fall by 9%, or an average of 9 million barrels per day for the year, returning oil consumption to 2012 levels.

Coal demand is likely to fall by 8%, largely because electricity demand is set to fall by nearly 5% this year.

The IEA's estimates for 2020 show a 5% drop in global electricity demand, with some regions seeing reductions of 10%.

Global CO2 emissions are expected to fall by 8%, or nearly 2.6 billion tonnes (GT), to the level of 10 years ago.

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