Full Title: Energy Over the Next 20 Years: It’s Not All About the US
Author(s): Anna Mikulska, Ph.D. and Michael D. Maher, Ph.D.
Publisher(s): Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy
Publication Date: June 1, 2018
Full Text: Download Resource
Description (excerpt):
Thanks to the “shale revolution,” the US is well on its way to becoming the world’s top oil and gas producer and a major exporter of both products. As such, the country does and will continue to influence global energy markets by providing greater predictability and security of supply. Due to increased use of natural gas and renewables, the US has also been a leader in reducing CO2 emissions in its electricity sector. However, as important as these accomplishments
are, the US will only play second fiddle to the developing world, especially Asia, which will shape energy demand for the foreseeable future.
This brief explores the challenges current energy demand trends pose for policymakers around the globe in trying to
meet two—often contradictory—goals:
1) raising the economic prospects for billions
in the less economically developed world,
which implies an increase in demand for
energy (the most affordable and accessible
of which today comes from fossil fuels); and
2) decreasing the use of fossil fuels as part of
a global climate change effort.