[3].
Country
Energy consumption (kWh/capita)
Average power use (W/capita)
USA
81,642
9,319
Netherlands
53,963
6,160
China
23,608
2,695
Colombia
7,792
890
India
6,987
797
Kenya
5,582
637
Many people believe that tackling the energy problem is among the biggest
challenges for humankind in the 21st century. This challenge consists of several problems:
First, humankind is facing a supply–demand problem. The demand is continuously
growing as the world population is rapidly increasing – some studies predict a world
population of 9 billion around 2040, in contrast to the 7 billion people living on the planet
in 2014. All these people will need energy, which increases the global energy demand.
Further, in many countries the living standard is rapidly increasing; like China and India,
where approximately 2.5 billion people are living, which represents more than a third of
the world’s population. Also the increasing living standards lead to an increased energy
demand.
According to the BP Energy Outlook 2035 the global energy consumption is expected
to rise by 37% between 2013 and 2035, where virtually all (96%) of the projected growth
is in non-OECD countries [5]. The increasing demand in energy has economic impact, as
well. If there is more demand for a product, while supply does not change that much, the
product will get more expensive. This basic market mechanism is also true for energy. As
an example we show a plot of the annual average price for a barrel of oil in Figure 1.1. We
see that prices went up during the oil crisis in the 1970s, when some countries stopped
producing and trading oil for a while. The second era of higher oil prices started at the
beginning of this millennium. Due to the increasing demand from new growing
economies, the oil prices increased significantly.
Country
Energy consumption (kWh/capita)
Average power use (W/capita)
USA
81,642
9,319
Netherlands
53,963
6,160
China
23,608
2,695
Colombia
7,792
890
India
6,987
797
Kenya
5,582
637
Many people believe that tackling the energy problem is among the biggest
challenges for humankind in the 21st century. This challenge consists of several problems:
First, humankind is facing a supply–demand problem. The demand is continuously
growing as the world population is rapidly increasing – some studies predict a world
population of 9 billion around 2040, in contrast to the 7 billion people living on the planet
in 2014. All these people will need energy, which increases the global energy demand.
Further, in many countries the living standard is rapidly increasing; like China and India,
where approximately 2.5 billion people are living, which represents more than a third of
the world’s population. Also the increasing living standards lead to an increased energy
demand.
According to the BP Energy Outlook 2035 the global energy consumption is expected
to rise by 37% between 2013 and 2035, where virtually all (96%) of the projected growth
is in non-OECD countries [5]. The increasing demand in energy has economic impact, as
well. If there is more demand for a product, while supply does not change that much, the
product will get more expensive. This basic market mechanism is also true for energy. As
an example we show a plot of the annual average price for a barrel of oil in Figure 1.1. We
see that prices went up during the oil crisis in the 1970s, when some countries stopped
producing and trading oil for a while. The second era of higher oil prices started at the
beginning of this millennium. Due to the increasing demand from new growing
economies, the oil prices increased significantly.