Energy

Fossil Fuels Will Still Provide 75 Percent Of Energy In 2040, Despite Trillions In Green Subsidies

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Andrew Follett Energy and Science Reporter
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The world will use 48 percent more energy by 2040, three-quarters of which will come from coal, oil or natural gas, according to projections made Thursday by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).

The report states that most of the world’s new energy use will come from developing countries, particularly China and India, and most of the 75 percent of that energy will be coal, oil or natural gas. Only a relatively small percentage of the world’s energy will come from wind and solar power despite massive subsidies, contrary to the claims from environmental groups like The Sierra Club.

Natural gas is the fastest growing source of energy according to the report, as coal use is projected to shrink in America and Europe and grow only modestly in the developing world.

Source: Energy Information Administration

Source: Energy Information Administration

The EIA projects natural gas and oil will have the most growth, largely due to the development of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, in America.

Fracking accounted for a mere seven percent of total U.S. natural gas production in 2000 and produced 3.6 billion cubic feet of gas per day. America produced 79 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day in 2015, breaking the previous record by five percent, according to the EIA report. This explosive growth caused America to surpass Russia early last year as as the world’s largest and fastest-growing producer natural gas and oil. Today, America’s proven recoverable natural gas reserves are seven times larger than they were in 2014.

Rising U.S. natural gas production has made gas the fuel of choice for America’s power plants, which were transitioning to natural gas before 2015. Natural gas provided more electricity than coal for every month between July and October of last year, according to data released in December by the EIA.

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