Global Energy Review 2020

The International Energy Agency's Global Energy Review 2020 added real-time analysis of how Covid-19 changed energy use, along with scenarios for the rest of the year.

At the peak of lockdowns, the share of global energy use under containment measures rose from about 5% in mid-March to about 50% in mid-April. Global energy demand fell 3.8% in the first quarter: coal dropped nearly 8%, oil nearly 5% and gas about 2%, while renewables were the only source to grow. In several countries, electricity demand fell by 20% or more during full lockdowns, which lifted the renewables share of supply.

For the full year the IEA projected demand to fall about 6%, the largest decline in 70 years in percentage terms and the largest ever in absolute terms. Global CO2 emissions could fall around 8%, back to levels of about a decade earlier, but the agency warned they could rebound unless recovery investment favours cleaner energy infrastructure.