The World Energy Market: Outlook and Challenges
Our global energy landscape is changing. Traditional centers of demand are being overtaken by fast-growing emerging markets, all the while technological advances and environmental concerns are shifting the world’s energy mix. Now – more than ever – the energy industry must adapt in order to successfully fulfil our need for sustainable power.
What we are witnessing nowadays is a shift from the more traditional pillars of the energy sector – such as coal-fired power plants and onshore oil and gas fields – to an energy sector where hydropower and other renewable energy sources provide significantly larger shares for market consumption. With the world’s net electricity production forecasted to grow by 45% to a total of 34 trillion kWh in 2040, latest macroeconomic analyses focus on five main challenges that endanger the energy ecosystem:
• Maintaining a balanced and diversified energy mix;
• Assuring further development of natural gas infrastructure and supply;
• Expanding the role of biomass in household heating;
• High-efficiency cogeneration and modernization of CHP production facilities1;
• Increasing energy efficiency all the while countering energy poverty.
According to the US EIA2, latest projections show an increased world consumption of marketed energy from all fuel sources through to the year 2040. Renewables are currently the world’s fastest-growing energy source at a rate of 2.3%/year (2015 – 2040), with nuclear power on second place with a 1.5% yearly increase during the same period. 20% of total power consumed worldwide is currently attributed to residential and commercial sector accounts combined, but these are currently forecasted to grow by 1.1% per year until 2040
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