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How the world’s energy system changes over the next half century will matter a lot to all of us, and to our children and grandchildren even more. Shell is committed to playing its part in building a responsible energy future – in the words of our latest Strategic Energy Scenarios, a “Blueprints” world.
The Energy Challenge
The world will need vast amounts of extra energy in the coming decades to support economic growth and reduce poverty. Countries’ supplies will have to be kept safe from disruption. And this energy will need to be produced in environmentally and socially responsible ways, including dealing with GHG emissions. This is the energy challenge. Meeting it is fast becoming one of the defining tests facing society – and our industry – this century.
Three hard truths make this challenge tougher. First, demand for energy is growing rapidly as several large countries enter the most energy-intensive phase of economic development. Second, supplies of easily accessible oil and natural gas will probably no longer keep up with demand after 2015. To close the gap, the world will have no choice but to use energy more efficiently and increase its use of other sources of energy. This means more renewables like solar, wind and biofuels, more nuclear energy, more coal, and more oil and natural gas from difficult-to-reach locations or unconventional sources like oil sands. And third, that as a result, CO2 emissions from energy, responsible for more than half of man-made GHG emissions, are set to rise, even as concerns about climate change grow.
