Even my critics will admit that I come up with the sexiest post titles ever.
The U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration helpfully lists global energy consumption by year back to 1980. As you would expect, it has risen from 283 quads in 1980 to 529 quads in 2012.
But the rise hasn’t been even. In fact, in four years there were slight declines.
The median rise in energy consumption during this period has been 8 quads. The highest was in 2010–a stonkingly huge 28 quads. The second highest rise was in 2004, with a rise of 20 quads. The third, oddly enough, was in 1984 with a rise of 15 quads.
I’d be happy to be enlightened about potential reasons for those years having such dramatic rises. Any thoughts?
3000 Quads 
Not an answer, just a thought. Were there large differences in heating/cooling degree days that may account for part of the change?