<p>From the first paragraph of the Methodology section:</p>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>Primary energy</strong></p>
<p>Traditionally, in bp’s Statistical Review of World Energy,
the primary energy of non-fossil based electricity
(nuclear, hydro, wind, solar, geothermal, biomass
in power and other renewables sources) has been
calculated on an ‘input-equivalent’ basis – i.e. based
on the equivalent amount of fossil fuel input required
to generate that amount of electricity in a standard
thermal power plant. For example, if nuclear power
output for a country was 100 TWh, and the efficiency
of a standard thermal power plant was 38%, the input-
equivalent primary energy would be 100/0.38 = 263
TWh or about 0.95 EJ.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>So, they quote the actual solar generation of 1032.5 TWh and the 'input-equivalent' consumption of about 1032.5 / 0.38 = 2717 TWh = 2717 / 278 EJ = 9.77 EJ.  They likely use different efficiencies for different countries depending on the typical thermal plant technologies in each place, in which case their actual global total will be slightly different from these numbers.  I must admit I can't see the Solar Consumption values in the pdf report I'm looking at, presumably you're quoting that number from another table they've provided.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-05-02T12:42:56.730Z
Indeed, I overlooked that part - I was looking at the excel sheet and it was somewhat hidden there, looking at the pdf makes it more obvious .
Alf
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-05-02T11:00:49.450Z
2023-05-02T11:00:49.450Z
Deditos
<p>The <a href="https://www.bp.com/en/global/corporate/energy-economics/statistical-review-of-world-energy.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">BP Statistical Review of World Energy</a> provides a lot of interesting data. Personally, I was interested in plotting the energy consumption by source as a function of time for different sources similar to:</p>
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/q7Unem.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/q7Unem.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a>.</p>
<p>Looking into the BP report, there is for example <strong>Solar Consumption in EJ</strong> and also <strong>Solar Generation in TWh</strong>, respectively for each year. I seem to miss something fundamentally here, but why is the first larger than the latter?</p>
<p>As an example, take the Solar Consumption in EJ from 2021, which is for the total world 9.73 EJ. This calculates to
<span class="math-container">$$\frac{9.73\cdot10^{18}\,\mathrm{Ws}}{3600\cdot1000} \approx 2701\,\mathrm{TWh}. $$</span></p>
<p>Looking again at the table, the Solar Generation in TWh for 2021 for the total world is 1032.5 TWh, so more than a factor of 2 lower. For me, it would make more sense if it would be the other way. So, obviously, I am missing something fundamental here. Any ideas?</p>

<energy>
Difference between solar consumption and production in BP Review of World Energy
Alf
# Difference between solar consumption and production in BP Review of World Energy

(Asked by: username_0 on 2023-05-02)

The [BP Statistical Review of World Energy](https://www.bp.com/en/global/corporate/energy-economics/statistical-review-of-world-energy.html) provides a lot of interesting data. Personally, I was interested in plotting the energy consumption by source as a function of time for different sources similar to:

[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/q7Unem.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/q7Unem.png).

Looking into the BP report, there is for example **Solar Consumption in EJ** and also **Solar Generation in TWh**, respectively for each year. I seem to miss something fundamentally here, but why is the first larger than the latter?

As an example, take the Solar Consumption in EJ from 2021, which is for the total world 9.73 EJ. This calculates to
$$\frac{9.73\cdot10^{18}\,\mathrm{Ws}}{3600\cdot1000} \approx 2701\,\mathrm{TWh}. $$

Looking again at the table, the Solar Generation in TWh for 2021 for the total world is 1032.5 TWh, so more than a factor of 2 lower. For me, it would make more sense if it would be the other way. So, obviously, I am missing something fundamental here. Any ideas?

**Tags:** energy


---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2023-05-02. Score: 6 | Accepted answer

From the first paragraph of the Methodology section:

> **Primary energy**
>
> Traditionally, in bp’s Statistical Review of World Energy,
> the primary energy of non-fossil based electricity
> (nuclear, hydro, wind, solar, geothermal, biomass
> in power and other renewables sources) has been
> calculated on an ‘input-equivalent’ basis – i.e. based
> on the equivalent amount of fossil fuel input required
> to generate that amount of electricity in a standard
> thermal power plant. For example, if nuclear power
> output for a country was 100 TWh, and the efficiency
> of a standard thermal power plant was 38%, the input-
> equivalent primary energy would be 100/0.38 = 263
> TWh or about 0.95 EJ.

So, they quote the actual solar generation of 1032.5 TWh and the 'input-equivalent' consumption of about 1032.5 / 0.38 = 2717 TWh = 2717 / 278 EJ = 9.77 EJ. They likely use different efficiencies for different countries depending on the typical thermal plant technologies in each place, in which case their actual global total will be slightly different from these numbers. I must admit I can't see the Solar Consumption values in the pdf report I'm looking at, presumably you're quoting that number from another table they've provided.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Indeed, I overlooked that part - I was looking at the excel sheet and it was somewhat hidden there, looking at the pdf makes it more obvious .  

---

