Energy is a pivotal category of commodities, with a profound impact on our daily lives. It affects the cost of virtually everything we consume, from groceries and clothing to the fuel in our cars and the heating and cooling of our homes, businesses, and institutions. In essence, energy is the lifeblood of our modern world, and without it, many essential aspects of our lives would be greatly affected.

The unit commonly used to measure energy quantities is the British thermal unit (Btu), which gauges the heat content of fuels. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), global energy consumption exceeds 575 quadrillion Btu annually and is projected to increase to 736 quadrillion Btu by 2040, marking a 28% rise.

To grasp the magnitude of these figures, we can compare them to fossil fuel consumption in the world’s largest economy, the United States. The U.S. annually consumes:

• 7.2 billion barrels of petroleum (equivalent to 35.9 quadrillion Btu)
• 27.5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas (equivalent to 28.4 quadrillion Btu)
• 729.5 million short tons of coal (equivalent to 14.2 quadrillion Btu)

Yet, U.S. consumption of these fossil fuels represents only 13.6% of the total global energy consumption. In other words, the world’s energy consumption is staggering.