14 DAY TRIAL // This past January 15, oil and gas giant BP released a new report documenting how the global energy use would evolve by the year 2035.
The company's report, dubbed BP Energy Outlook, says that, between the years 2012 and 2035, energy consumption on a global scale will increase by about 41%. By comparison, power use over the past 23 years is found to have upped by 55%.
“The growth rate for global demand is slower than what we have seen in previous decades, largely as a result of increasing energy efficiency,” explains Bob Dudley, BP group chief executive.
The good news is that, thanks to new technologies, the world should have no trouble dealing with its new and fairly high energy demand.
As Bob Dudley puts it, “Trends in global technology, investment and policy leave us confident that production will be able to keep pace.”
Furthermore, “New energy forms such as shale gas, tight oil, and renewables will account for a significant share of the growth in global supply.”
The bad news is that, according to the oil and gas giant, the predicted increase in the world's energy demand has very high chances to go hand in hand with a noteworthy increase in global greenhouse gas emissions.
As BP explains in its report, evidence indicates that, judging by how things are going, emissions will up by about 29% by the year 2035, Business Green informs us.
Interestingly enough, this will happen despite a 6.4% annual increase in renewable energy capacity, a switch from coal to less carbon intensive gas and improved energy efficiency.
The report does not tackle the issue about how having more greenhouse gases floating about in the planet's atmosphere will affect the climate.
However, there are many who say that, should the oil and gas giant's predictions prove accurate, the chances of limiting global warming to just 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) are pretty much slim to none.