An international energy consultancy launched the “Rapid pivot to gas” report highlighting that turning to gas will be the solution to deal with the increasing global energy demand.
Specifically, Xodus Group’s showed that approximately $20 trillion would need to be invested on natural gas exploration and production over the next 20 years. This forecast requires significant advancements in technology for gas production, including carbon capture and storage (CCS) of the carbon dioxide produced.
Concerning the global energy demand, the EIA launched its International Energy Outlook 2019 (IEO2019) forecasting that the global energy consumption will increase by about 50% from 2018 to 2050, coming from regions where the consumption of energy is driven by strong economic growth, particularly in non-OECD Asia.
This assumption expects the phasing out of coal and oil in response to vehicle electrification and environmental pressures, along with a rapid and robust increase in renewable production.
Moreover, the report states that in the past 25 years, per capita energy consumption outside of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries has increased ver two% annually. In the OECD, average per capita consumption has fallen by about 0.2 percent annually over the same period. These growth rates were used to project future energy demand by region.
In the meantime, the United Nations forecasts that the OECD population will rise from 1.3 billion people in 2018 to around 1.4 billion people in 2040, whereas the non-OECD population is projected to grow from 6.3 billion to 7.8 billion. Based on these numbers, the overall primary energy consumption will surge from 14,300 million tonnes of oil equivalent (Mtoe) per year to 21,500 Mtoe per year over the same period.
Andrew Sewell, Director of Subsurface at Xodus Group stated that
We are anticipating an unprecedented decline in oil and coal, but even with energy from renewables modeled to the most aggressive increase, our analysis shows that a much more rapid pivot to gas is required to meet increased demand.
Overall, the report notes that although they support their ‘pivot to gas’ perspective, it is one of many possible scenarios, as an increase in primary energy demand is highly likely to happen.
To learn more about the ‘pivot to gas’ report click herebelow
