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Global energy supply and consumption is not evenly distributed. Some places have an energy surplus, whereas others have an energy deficit.

Global energy supply

Different countries have the potential to exploit different amounts and types of energy. In general:

• Saudi Arabia, Russia and the USA produce the most oil. Around 50% of known oil reserves are found in the Middle East. As technology improves, new supplies can be discovered and accessed more easily. There are huge, barely tapped reserves in South America, Africa and the Arctic.
• The USA, Russia and Australia have the largest coal reserves. Around 80 countries have coal reserves and there is enough coal left to last for another 130 years.
• Russia, Iran and Qatar have the largest natural gas reserves. At present, just under half of the UK's natural gas comes from the North Sea, although production has decreased as profits have fallen. Globally, there is enough natural gas to last for around 50 years.
• Kazakhstan, Canada and South Africa have the largest uranium reserves. Uranium is a non-renewable resource used to generate nuclear power. Uranium reserves are expected to last for another 80 years.

The potential to generate renewable energy is determined by a country's location. Islands have the potential for wave power and tidal power, windy places can generate wind power, sunny countries can generate solar power, wet places with steep relief can generate hydroelectric power (HEP) and countries close to plate boundaries can generate geothermal power.

Global energy consumption

It is estimated that global energy consumption will increase by 27% between 2020 and 2040. The growth in energy consumption will largely take place in developing countries.

Reasons for increasing energy consumption

Global energy consumption is rising. There are four main reasons for this:

1. Affluence - emerging countries like China are seeing the biggest growth in energy consumption. This is because the standard of living in these countries is improving and so more people are buying things like technology for the home and cars. Energy use in developed country is high, but stable as populations are steady and new technologies help to conserve energy.
2. Population - global population is increasing. It reached 7.9 billion people in 2022 and it is estimated to reach 9.7 billion around 2050. Everyone uses energy and so this leads to a greater consumption of energy.
3. Technology - the development of new technologies means that more people are using energy. The use of mobile devices and computers has increased and these all require energy to power them.
4. Economic reasons - factories and offices are run using energy. As countries develop economically, they build more factories and offices for people to work in.

Energy mix in the UK

The energy mix in the UK reflects the fact that it has a strong economy and so needs a variety of energy sources for industrial production, electrical production, transport, and domestic use.

The UK uses a mixture of fossil fuels (oil, gas and coal), nuclear energy and renewable energy (eg solar, wind and hydroelectric power). Most of the oil and coal the UK uses has to be imported from other countries, however the UK secures some of its gas supply from the North Sea. Nuclear power requires uranium which the UK does not have, so this also has to be imported. However, as the UK invests in renewable energy it will be able to be more self-sufficient in its energy supply.

The National Grid generates the electricity used in the UK - the sources vary from day to day due to variations in demand and the availability of certain types of energy such as wind and solar power.