Thanks to all our readers who took part in our Energy Quiz in December. We still owe you the answers. Here they are.
We put all the entries into a hat and drew out the first 10 at random. Each winner will receive a coupon entitling them or a colleague to a free 12-month subscription to EPW (Energy Post Weekly), our premium service, worth almost €1000 each!
For the rest, here’s your chance to see how you did.
Q1. Which country has the highest energy consumption per capita in the world? (tip: it’s a European country)
Answer: Iceland with 18,774 koe (kilogram of oil equivalent)
If you guessed Qatar, Trinidad, Kuwait, Brunei or Luxembourg, you were close. Source: World Bank figures
Q2. Lignite is known as one of the most polluting sources of electricity in terms of CO2-output. Which country uses the most lignite in the world per capita?
Answer: Surprisingly, this is sunny Greece, which does not have a particularly dirty image. Czech Republic, Australia, Germany and Poland, are the others in the top-5. Source: Energy Post
Q3. Which country has by far the highest proved reserves of coal in the world?
Answer: The United States – 237,295 tonnes at end 2015. Number two, Russia, has 157,010 tons, China is number three with 114,500 tonnes. But China has by far the highest production and consumption. Source: BP Statistical Review of World Energy June 2016
Q4. Which continent has the highest proven reserves of coal in the world – North America, Europe (including Russia), Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa, or South & Central America?Â
Answer: Europe has 34.8%, more than Asia Pacific (32.3%) and North America (26.6%).
Q5. How many people are employed in the US coal mining industry?
Answer: 60,000 . Source: Wall Street Journal, 17 Nov 2016
Q6. How many people work in the US solar industry (direct jobs)?
Answer: 173,800 (as of November 2014) Source: Environmental and Energy Study Institute
Q7. What was the share of non-hydro renewable energy (i.e. solar, wind, biomass, geothermal, waste) in global primary energy consumption in 2015?
Answer: 2.7%
Q8. And the share of fossil fuels?
Answer: 86% Source: BP Statistical Review of Energy 2016
Q9. Which country had the largest nuclear energy production and consumption in 2015?
Answer: The United States, by far (32.6% of world total). Second was France, but Europe as a whole (excluding Russia) has almost exactly the same nuclear consumption as the US. Source: BP Statistical Review of Energy 2016
Q10. How many electric cars were sold in 2015 globally and how large was the share of EVs in total car sales?
Answer: 462,000, a share of 0.9% in total sales Source: Bloomberg New Energy Finance
None of the respondents had exactly the same answers as ours, but then there is always room for debate in our complex energy sector.
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