- Due to global energy demand, solar and wind energy is expected to increase from 2 per cent to 11 per cent of the world’s supply, while lower-emission sources like natural gas will replace coal.
- Oil use is expected to decline in personal transportation but will remain crucial for industrial processes and heavy-duty transport like shipping, long-haul trucking, and aviation.
Fifteen per cent more energy will be required by 2050 compared to now to meet the growing population’s global energy demand and rising living standards. This estimate is according to the 2023 Global Outlook by Exxon Mobil Corporation, which provides estimates and projections of energy demand, supply, and trends through 2050.
According to the report by Exxon Mobil Corporation, by 2050, the world population, prosperity, and higher energy output will increase. While emissions will decrease with the advancement of low-carbon solutions, achieving net-zero emissions will require constructive policies, new technologies, and market-driven mechanisms.
Reliable, affordable energy, including oil and natural gas, will remain crucial for economic growth, especially in developing nations. Despite the benefits of affordable energy, billions still lack access to modern living conditions, highlighting the need for sustainable energy solutions to improve living standards, life expectancy, education, and income, it said.
In developing countries like India, the gross domestic product per person is low (only about $2,000 per year), and many earn less and lack access to necessities. This issue will worsen as the world’s population grows from 8 billion to nearly 10 billion by 2050.
Exxon Mobil estimates that by 2050, the world will need to produce about 15 per cent more energy to meet the needs of 2 billion more people and a doubled global economy, with most of it going towards meeting the higher living standards of a developing world with a larger population.
The expansion of economic prosperity will depend on increased access to abundant, affordable energy, as human progress has been fueled by higher energy use. “Energy use and economic development are inseparable. Where there is energy poverty, there is poverty. And where energy availability rises, living standards rise as well,” the report says.
The Global Outlook predicts a significant shift in the world’s energy mix by 2050, with a rise in solar and wind energy and a decrease in coal. Solar and wind energy is expected to triple from 2 per cent to 11 per cent of the world’s supply, while lower-emission sources like natural gas will replace coal. Electricity use is expected to grow 80 per cent by 2050.
Oil and natural gas, which comprise over half of the world’s energy supply, are expected to remain essential due to their energy density, portability, availability, and affordability. However, oil use is expected to decline in personal transportation but will remain crucial for industrial processes and heavy-duty transport like shipping, long-haul trucking, and aviation.
Natural gas use is expected to increase by over 20 per cent by 2050 due to its utility as a reliable and lower-emission fuel for electricity generation, hydrogen production, and heating in industrial processes and buildings.