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For most people almost every aspect of our lives
would be unthinkable without convenient modern energy.
Demand for energy is growing incredibly fast.
By 2050, the number of people on Earth is likely to reach nine billion.
That's two billion more people than today.
Many in the developing world will move out of poverty,
giving them access to energy that will transform their quality of life.
It will power improvements in standards of living,
and help provide access to better education,
sanitation and healthcare.
So, in the first half of this century, demand for energy could double.
The world will need to find ways
to produce a huge amount more energy to meet demand,
but also limit CO2 emissions,
if we want to avoid the worst effects of climate change.
This is one of the biggest challenges facing the world today.
Demand will be so high that we will need all forms of energy.
Renewables will play a bigger role over time,
but scaling up new sources of energy
like wind and solar to meet demand will take many decades.
In 2050, it's expected that at least 65% of world energy demand
will be met using fossil fuels: coal, oil and gas.
Some of these fossil sources will be in harder-to-reach locations.
It will take technology and innovation to access them,
requiring more energy and producing more CO2.
Fortunately, in the short term,
there are choices to quickly and cheaply reduce CO2 emissions now.
For example, generating electricity using natural gas instead of coal
can cut CO2 emissions from power plants in half.
Carbon capture and storage technology
could prevent nearly all the CO2 emissions emitted by power plants and industry
entering the atmosphere.
Out on the road, vehicle improvements and biofuels
offer the most practical way to reduce road transport emissions
over the next 20 years.
Further into the future, electric and hydrogen fuel cell cars
are likely to play a bigger role in reducing emissions.
We will all need to find ways to use energy more efficiently
as this could have a big impact,
helping to ease demand and limit CO2 emissions.
Meeting future energy demand responsibly is a challenge...
but it can be done.