World needs 25 percent more energy to meet demand by 2040

ABU DHABI / WAM

At the heart of the world’s sustainable development goals lies one crucial statistic. By 2040, we will require at least 25% more energy than is currently produced to meet the needs of a rapidly growing, global population, Dr Sultan bin Ahmed Sultan Al Jaber, UAE Minister of State said.
He added that keeping pace with this demand in a way that is both economically and environmentally sustainable is one of the central challenges and was the focus of the world’s largest gathering on sustainability in Abu Dhabi last week.
“The good news is that the world has already made substantial progress over the past five years towards a sustainable energy future,” Al Jaber said.
There has been remarkable growth in wind and solar power, driven by rapidly falling costs. From 2010 to 2015, total solar capacity worldwide increased fivefold and wind power more than doubled. As the economics of wind and solar continue to become more attractive, the growth rate of both will accelerate, Al Jaber said.
“Yet, as renewables have risen, hydrocarbons are also playing a vital role in responsibly providing the world’s energy. Natural gas, in particular, has emerged as a primary source of low emission, low cost power.”
“The potential for wind, solar and natural gas working together is only now being fully understood. In the right formula, they can be combined to supply sufficient sustainable energy. It works like this: wind and solar only generate electricity when the sun is shining or the wind is blowing. That means there needs to be another power source — a base load that can always be relied on, regardless of weather conditions,” the minister pointed out.