Motivation: The Challenge
Energy is a vital global commodity. According to the U.S. Department of Energy's International Energy Outlook 2006 (IEO2006), which presents an assessment by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) of the outlook for international energy markets through 2030, world energy consumption is projected to increase by 71 percent from 2003 to 2030. The report predicts that energy consumption worldwide will increase on average by two percent per year. While oil remains the dominant energy source, fossil fuels continue to supply much of the energy used globally.
IEO2006 global projections from 2003 to 2030:
- Electricity consumption more than doubles, growing at an average rate of 2.7 percent per year, from 14,781 billion kilowatt hours (kWh) in 2003 to 30,116 billion kWh in 2030.
- Oil demand will increase by 47 percent.
- Coal consumption nearly doubles, from 5.4 billion short tons (2,000 pounds) in 2003 to 10.6 billion tons in 2030. Coal consumption increases by three percent per year on average from 2003 to 2015, before slowing to an average annual increase of two percent annually from 2015 to 2030.
- Natural gas consumption increases from 24 percent in 2003, 95 trillion cubic feet, to 26 percent in 2030, 182 trillion cubic feet.
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