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The Global Energy Balance Sheet and Income Statement The Supply of Non-Renewable Energy Sources Oil, Coal and Natural Gas are non-renewable energy sources and are therefore of a limited supply on the planet Earth. Every few years the U.S. Dept of Energy produces its International Energy Outlook, which estimates current global supplies, or reserves, and forecasts global use of these non-renewable sources. Graphed below are the most recent reserve estimates in units of Quadrillion (1+15 zeroes) BTUs or British Thermal Units. - One BTU is approximately equal to the amount of energy produced by a match. - The typical American household uses 400 Million BTUs per year.
 These reserves of fossil fuels can be considered part of the balance sheet of the global energy financial statement. They are the major energy assets we have to work with, what we have in the bank, and once they are gone, they are gone forever. The renewable energy sources, such as Nuclear, Hydro-Electric, Geothermal and Solar, are growing in importance, but combined still make up less than 15% of world's energy consumption.
The Consumption of Energy In 1997 the world consumed approximately 380 Quadrillion BTUs of energy. This can be considered the income statement side of the energy financial statement. It represents our annual energy expenses, what we spend out of our energy bank account. The chart below presents energy consumption by fuel type.
It is clear that there is a vast reserve of coal with which we could supply our energy needs for many years, but unfortunately coal is also the fuel which causes the most pollution, not only through carbon emissions into our atmosphere, but also through the degradation and contamination of our soils.
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