New Energy World™
New Energy World™ embraces the whole energy industry as it connects and converges to address the decarbonisation challenge. It covers progress being made across the industry, from the dynamics under way to reduce emissions in oil and gas, through improvements to the efficiency of energy conversion and use, to cutting-edge initiatives in renewable and low-carbon technologies.
What might the energy system of 2100 look like?
14/4/2026
8 min read
Feature
After the launch of the first Statistical Review of World Energy 75 years ago, the world is 74 years away from the end of the century. That it is in a state of perpetual flux, hasn’t inhibited speculation about what the future holds. And while there is much that is wildly unpredictable – not least the behaviour of world leaders – there are fundamentals on which most agree and which seem certain to shape the next six decades, reports Andrew Mourant.
First – unless perhaps the Earth is struck by an asteroid – temperatures will rise. How much is a matter of debate; but much depends on the behaviour of mankind and developing technologies that can halt – or even reverse – the quantities of greenhouse gases being created.
Second is the inexorable rise of global population – inexorable, that is, until towards the end of the century when it’s predicted to stabilise then recede. Projections from the United Nations (UN) are that the numbers, eight billion in 2023, will peak around 2084 at about 10.3 billion and slowly decline. That assumes a sustained decrease in the global average fertility rate from 2.5 births per woman from 2015–2020 to 1.8 by 2100.
Other projections calculate that successful education and family planning goals could result in a peak during 2060–2070. Most models conclude that all the predicted growth between 2020 and 2050 will come from less developed countries, more than half from sub-Saharan Africa. Nigeria, says the UN, could become the world’s third most populous country, and China’s population could shrink by half.