For the past 67 years, BP has published its Annual Statistical Review of World Energy, a consolidated data set that spans primary energy, countries, and regions. On a new episode of Columbia Energy Exchange, host Jason Bordoff sits down with Spencer Dale, who serves as Group Chief Economist at BP, to discuss the key themes and insights from the recently released 2018 report. Prior to joining BP in 2014, Spencer was with the Bank of England, where he was Chief Economist and a Member of the Monetary Policy Committee.
One of Spencer’s key takeaways from the report was that while last year (2017) was an exceptional year for renewables, little progress has been made to reduce coal consumption. In fact, coal continues to demand 38% of the total fuel share mix, the same percentage as 30 years go. As a result, Spencer highlights the importance of targeting efficiencies in the power sector to reduce the consumption of high-carbon energy sources. Spencer and Jason also discussed interesting trends such as the fall in energy intensity and the pivotal roles that China and India will continue to play in the global energy market in the years ahead.
Other topics discussed include Spencer’s thoughts on peak oil demand and what peak oil means for oil majors like BP; the role that EV’s will play in the transportation sector; and the role of sources like natural gas and nuclear power in the energy transition.