PARIS - A 2.3 percent jump in global energy demand last year outstripped the expansion of renewables and helped drive record-high greenhouse gas emissions, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said Tuesday. "We have seen an extraordinary increase in global energy demand in 2018, growing at its fastest pace this decade," said IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol. Global coal consumption in 2018 rose only in Asia, especially China, India, Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines and Malaysia, the report found. The main drivers of the surge in worldwide energy demand were a robust global economy along with expanded heating and cooling needs in some countries. Demand for electricity -- which the IEA has called the "fuel of the future" -- grew by a brisk four percent, accounting for half of the overall growth in primary energy demand.

Source: Bangkok Post March 26, 2019 05:37 UTC