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DOI:10.1306/1032706SP226

Copyright 2005 by The American Association of Petroleum Geologists.

Introduction, Brief History, and Chosen Approach

Because energy is essential to provide the basic needs of humanity, namely food, clean fresh water, fuel for transportation, the generation of electricity, and the production of heat, it is at the core of economic and social activity; and because energy is consumed by people, estimates of the consumption of energy during the 21st century need to be based on projections of the size, composition, and mode and amount of energy use of the human population of the world. Estimates of the possible supply of energy are based on the availability of the presently known sources: principally oil, natural gas, coal, and hydroelectric and nuclear power. The development of these estimates is the objective of this study. They support the conclusion that, although the global distribution of energy sources is obviously uneven, during the 21st century, there will be sufficient sources to adequately satisfy the demand for energy of a human population whose growth rate shows signs of starting to level off.