Energy Mix

As the human population and middle class increases, so will the demand for industrial products and our need for reliable energy to power our world. The by-product of growth is excessive CO2 emissions – the leading cause of climate change. Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) has a definitive role to play to drive down world emissions.

CCS plays a key role in reducing emissions within a diverse energy mix.
This graph demonstrates that an abated coal plant with CCS is three times cleaner than
new natural gas. Plus, with CCS, CO2 emissions drop to a quarter of the current Canadian regulations.

By looking at the U.S. Energy Information Administration's (EIA) energy consumption projections of the world to the year 2040, it’s clear that the world will continue to be heavily reliant on fossil fuels. Going forward, oil and other petroleum products (liquids) will continue to provide the largest share of the world’s energy consumption.

The electric and industrial power sectors will rely heavily on natural gas, and coal will remain a vital fuel for the world’s electricity markets, accounting for 70 per cent of the world’s coal use based on collective consumption by China, the United States and India.

 

World Energy Consumption By Energy Source (1990-2040) - EIA, 2017

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration - even though International Energy Outlook, 2017 expects the non fossil fuels (renewables and nuclear) to grow faster than fossil fuels, fossil fuels still account for more than three-quarters of world energy consumption through 2040. Natural gas, which has a lower carbon intensity than coal and petroleum, is the fastest-growing fossil fuel in the outlook, with global natural gas consumption increasing by 1.4 per cent per year. The relatively high rate of natural gas consumption growth is attributed to abundant natural gas resources and rising production — including supplies of tight gas, shale gas, and coal bed methane. 

 

WORLD NET ELECTRICITY GENERATION BY SOURCE, 2010–2050 

Electricity generation will continue to grow across many energy sources and energy use will increase by nearly 50 per cent by 2050.i Renewables are expected to be the primary source for new electricity generation, but natural gas, coal, and increasingly batteries will be used to help meet load and support grid reliability. Though there would be decline among the world’s coal-fired generation through 2030, it remains a significant part of the world electricity generation mix (International Energy Outlook 2021).

World energy projections strongly suggest that a broad global energy mix will continue to be needed for our planet, amplifying the need for continued development and deployment of large-scale CCS.  

At the International CCS Knowledge Centre, we will continue to improve the delivery and performance of large-scale CCS so that it can be effectively utilized around the globe for decades to come.

 

                                                                               World Net Electricity Generation by Energy Source 2010 - 2050
                                                                                           Source: International Energy Outlook 2021

 

Reference


 iInternational Energy Outlook 2021: https://www.eia.gov/outlooks/ieo/introduction/sub-topic-01.php