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Energy

The rapidly growing economies of China and India will place increasing pressure on the world’s energy resources. This summary of the World Energy Outlook for 2007 projects future energy demands and highlights implications for global energy security and climate change. The report argues that the challenge for all countries is to put in motion a transition to a more secure, lower-carbon energy system, without undermining economic and social development. In particular, the report highlights the role of China and India in fuelling this increased demand.

Key points from the report include:

• if unfettered growth in global energy demand continues, world energy needs would increase by 50% by 2030, with China and India together accounting for 45% of this increase in demand
• the world’s primary energy needs based on the current scenarios are projected to grow by 55% between 2005 and 2030, at an average annual rate of 1.8% per year
• developing countries, whose economies and populations are growing fastest, contribute 74% of the increase in global primary energy use in this scenario
• world oil resources are judged to be sufficient to meet the projected growth in demand to 2030, with output becoming more concentrated in OPEC countries
• commodity exporters would gain most from even faster economic expansion in China and India
• structural changes in China’s and India’s economies will affect their trade with the rest of the world, including their need to import energy .

The report concludes that the emergence of China and India as major players in global energy markets makes it all the more important that all countries take decisive and urgent action to curb runaway energy demand. Many of the policies available to alleviate energy insecurity can also help to mitigate local pollution and climate change, and vice-versa.

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