WASHINGTON - Less than a quarter century from now, the world will be consuming 57 percent more energy than it does today, if the latest projections from the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Energy Information Administration (EIA) prove to be correct.

The EIA's International Energy Outlook 2007 projects a growing thirst for energy in developing countries, particularly in Asia. The report sees coal as the fastest-growing energy source, while petroleum consumption increases by more than 30 percent. Meanwhile, liquid fuels produced from biomass, coal, and natural gas are expected to provide 9 percent of the world's liquid fuels supply by 2030. Overall, renewable energy barely increases its share of the world's energy supply over the next 23 years, growing from today's 7 percent share to about 8 percent in 2030.

The EIA's reference scenario does not include greenhouse gas constraints, and as a result, global greenhouse gas emissions increase nearly 60 percent by 2030. The report notes that developing countries produced more greenhouse gas emissions than the industrialized countries in 2004, and are expected to widen the gap in the future. By 2030, the EIA expects today's developing countries to generate 57 percent more greenhouse gases than today's industrialized countries.

Publication date: 06/04/2007