Forecast for global energy consumption

Manufacturing & Technology News, June 30, 2008

World energy consumption should increase by 50 percent between 2005 and 2030, "driven by robust economic growth and expanding populations in the world's developing countries," according to the latest projections from the Department of Energy's Energy Information Administration.

Coal's share of world energy use "has increased sharply over the past few years, and without significant changes in existing laws and policies, particularly those related to greenhouse gas emissions, robust growth is likely to continue," says EIA in its latest "International Energy Outlook 2008." Coal accounted for 27 percent of world energy use in 2005, up from 24 percent in 2002, due mostly to increased use in China. Coal consumption in China has nearly doubled since 2000. Coal use is projected to increase by 2 percent per year between 2005 and 2030.

Nuclear generating capacity is projected to increase from 374 gigawatts in 2005 to 498 gigawatts in 2030. China is projected to add 45 gigawatts of net nuclear capacity by 2030, followed by India at 17 gigawatts, Russia at 18 gigawatts and the United States at 15 gigawatts. Renewable energy use is expected to increase by 2.1 percent per year between 2005 and 2030.

EIA's projections historically have been very close to reality. The report is located at http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/ieo/index.html.>

COPYRIGHT 2008 Publishers & Producers

COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning