How will the world respond to surging energy demand?

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Following The Economist’s Global Energy Conversation in June 2011, the general consensus among the experts was that the pattern of global energy demand is shifting, economies are rebalancing, populations are growing and that the global energy system is in the early stages of an historic transformation. So, what does this mean for the energy industry?

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The global energy system is in the early stages of an historic transformation, propelled by a rising global population - 9 billion by 2050, up from 7 billion today...

 

Every second, five babies are born, many of them in Asia. Adding 2 billion people to the planet is like adding one more China and India.

At the same time, millions in developing countries are shaking off energy poverty and climbing the energy ladder. China and India are entering their most energy-intensive phase of development and could double their energy demand over next 40 years, according to the World Energy Council.

All this means that energy demand is likely to double by 2050, even assuming significant increases in energy efficiency. If we continue to use energy as we do today, a gap could emerge between demand and supply about the size of the whole energy industry in 2000.

This gap will have to be bridged, either by a dramatic reduction in demand, a jump in supply, or most likely some mix of both.  But exactly how remains unclear. Shell’s Scenario planners call this the “zone of uncertainty”.   

This could be a zone of extraordinary misery or extraordinary opportunity, depending on how the world responds. It signals an era of volatile transitions, for example, volatility in energy prices as demand continues to rise.

Renewable energy sources will undergo rapid expansion, so that by mid-century they could supply around 30% of the world’s energy – up from today’s 13%. This would represent a massive achievement, given the financial and technical obstacles to deploying new energy sources on a mass scale. But it will also mean that fossil fuels and nuclear will still account for around two-thirds of the world’s energy in 2050.

To meet the world’s surging energy demands and address the environmental impact at the same time will require a major effort by countries, communities and companies.

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Forum, The Economist
Closed November 28th
vuksanovichs
Thursday, 10th November 2011 19.19
FNLG project, done by the SHELL, for me is the the best engineering development project for the century.
Shell
Monday, 28th November 2011 14.36
Hi vuksanovichs, many thanks for your comment. We’re happy to hear your thoughts on our FLNG project, to read more on this, please visit: http://www.shell.com/home/content/innovation/meeting_demand/natural_gas/flng/.
Dwayne E
Thursday, 10th November 2011 20.37
I think coal is a vital source of energy that can be use in difference around the world. The challenge is in the processing of coal to be used as a alternative source of fuel in difference products.
MasfryR
Friday, 11th November 2011 07.12
As fossile oil and Nuclear energy will still remain the major contributors to energy sources, technology advancement and key processes will also be key in order to optimize these two sources of energy so to produce clean and safer engery that will attemp to close the energy gap and reduce environmental risks. Technology will need to cover a wide spectrum including the support of energy efficiency..!
Shell
Monday, 28th November 2011 14.36
Hi MasfryR, at Shell we working hard to use technology to optimize existing sources of energy to help close the energy gap. One way in which we are doing this is to use enhanced oil recovery techniques (EOR). To read more about this, please visit here: http://www.shell.com/home/content/innovation/meeting_demand/eor/.
Nadzir
Friday, 11th November 2011 10.13
Energy poverty is one of the greatest challenges confronting the world today. It poses serious threats to economies, national security, the environment, and public health throughout the world. Threats posed by it: 1. Hindrance to Economic Development, there are often power cuts and blackouts, seriously limiting productivity and efficiency.Limiting their access to information and markets. Most of the energy poor live in rural areas are primitive and inefficient. 2. Health Risks, primitive cook stoves create indoor air pollution because homes are poorly ventilated and the dirty air sits in the home, breathed in by the occupants. 3. National Security, high unemployment and lack of economic opportunities in the Middle East or any region that is home to extreme groups is a threat to national security. Innovative green policies and technologies are needed to bring energy to people who live away from the grid and financing is needed to implement those solutions.
GreenCosmos
Friday, 11th November 2011 10.14
The technology to convert biomass to liquid hydrocarbon fuel is the technology of the future. There is a huge amount of residual biomass from agricultural waste that needs to be disposed safely and the liquid hydrocarbon produced by the catalytic cracking of the biomass can be blended with diesel and distributed via the existing distribution infrastructure.
Lin Tong Shen
Friday, 11th November 2011 14.19
The government of various countries should review their poilices that is currently implemented. Besides the energy industry whereby reducing energy consumption and shifting to alternative energy, but also in the business and education side. For business, governments should look into growing an environment for small and medium energy enterprises that complement TNCs like energy giants like siemens and chervon; to thrive on, survive and be fully supported. Secondly, the government should be willing to spend large amount of money on R&D and developing the system. Thirdly, Governments of developing countries should encourage foreign investments in the energy industry. For education, governments should encourage entrepreneurship (Energy industry) and groom potential researches in the field of sustainable energy. Living in a country that controls the energy industry tightly, it is difficult to overcome the ever increasing demand. Therefore the aboved mentioned are part of my solutions.
SAIDU
Monday, 14th November 2011 18.26
I think Energy creation from biomass is a very promising renewable energy technology. Biomass is found all around us, it exist in biological material such as plants, animals and their bye products. . It has been shown that the inedible portion of plants contain far more complex hydrocarbons [active ingredients] for bio fuel production. This has turned out to be double advantage for farmers, because they would cultivate food crops and raw materials at the same time. It would also serve as wildlife cover,raw material for pharmaceuticals, bio-plastics, source of poverty eradication, reduce carbon dioxide in the atmosphere because plants consume them. Climate Change and Global Warming ↑ Environmental Pollution ↑ Increased Pressure on Energy Demand ↑ Urbanization / Increase in Population ↑ Rural-Urban Migration A Chart of Rural-Urban Migration Leading to Environmental Pollution, Climate Change And Global Warming.
jerauld
Monday, 14th November 2011 19.01
We have a technology that can convert feedstock from it's solid state to a gaseous state, and at that point through molecular coupling and decoupling of the carbon chain we can synthesize bio fuels, electricity, and industrial bio lubricants. Land-fills will become future energy depots. In every crisis there is the opportunity of innovation waiting to be born in the crucible of change.