Despite shift from fossil fuels, EIA projects global energy consumption, CO2 emissions to increase through 2050
Emissions

Despite shift from fossil fuels, EIA projects global energy consumption, CO2 emissions to increase through 2050

Increases in energy consumption by 2050 are likely to outpace efficiency improvements, according to the latest projections by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).

EIA is projecting global energy-related carbon dioxide emissions to increase through 2050 in all forecasted cases except its Low Economic Growth case.

While the world would continue to shift from fossil to non-fossil energy sources, EIA said this would be offset by global population growth, regional economic shifts toward more manufacturing and increased energy consumption as living standards improve.

EIA projects global electricity generation will increase by 30% to 76% in 2050 from 2022 across all cases and will primarily be met by zero-carbon technologies.

For all cases, EIA projects that 81% to 95% of the new electric-generating capacity installed from 2022 to 2050 will be zero-carbon technologies. As a result, by 2050, the combined share of coal and natural gas would fall to between 27% and 38% of the installed global generating capacity.

According to the projections, renewables and nuclear could provide as much as two-thirds of global electricity generation by 2050.

EIA does project global renewable energy consumption, particularly solar and wind, to grow faster than any other energy source. The projected rise in renewable energy consumption is largely driven by its increased use in the electric power sector.

Battery storage capacity is projected to increase from less than 1% of global power capacity in 2022 to a range of 4% to 9% of global power capacity by 2050.

Read the full International Energy Outlook here.

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