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Renewables, Power & Energy Use Forecast to 2050

Renewables, Power & Energy Use Forecast to 2050

Full Title: Renewables, Power & Energy Use Forecast to 2050
Author(s):
Publisher(s): DNV GL
Publication Date: September 1, 2017
Full Text: Download Resource
Description (excerpt):

Three global themes emerging over our model’s forecasting period are most relevant for this report on its implications for renewables, power, and energy use:

  • Final energy demand plateaus around 2030 at 430 exajoules (EJ), 7% higher than in 2015, due mainly to greater efficiency of end-users, less use of fossil fuels at relatively low thermal efficiency, and slower population and productivity growth.
  • Electricity consumption increases by 140% and it becomes the largest energy carrier1 , followed by gas. Other energy carriers, such as coal and oil, experience significant reductions or only slight increases in consumption.
  • Electricity production becomes dominated by renewables — Solar photovoltaic (PV), onshore wind, hydropower, and offshore wind, in that order. Already mainstream today in many countries, these renewables together will account for 85% of global electricity production in 2050.

MAIN IMPLICATIONS

These three main themes and many others stemming from the model’s results reveal a host of implications — some immediately apparent, others not so obvious — for stakeholders across the energy value chain and for consumers, law makers and regulators. It is clear, for example, that sweeping change will come to the way in which the extensive and sophisticated power grids of industrialized nations are set up and operated, and to who can access them to buy or sell electricity. Here, we summarize some of the main implications in brief before discussing them more fully later in this report.

All statements and/or propositions in discussion prompts are meant exclusively to stimulate discussion and do not represent the views of OurEnergyPolicy.org, its Partners, Topic Directors or Experts, nor of any individual or organization. Comments by and opinions of Expert participants are their own.

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