In its International Energy Outlook 2016 (IEO2016), the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) predicts a raise of total world energy consumption from 549 quadrillion Btu in 2012 to 815 quadrillion Btu in 2040, an increase of 48%. By 2040, almost two-thirds of the world’s primary energy will be consumed in the non-OECD economies.
Renewables are the world's fastest-growing energy source with average 2.6%/year growth rate between 2012 and 2040. Generation from non-hydropower renewables is the predominant source of the increase, rising by an average of 5.7%/year. Solar is the world’s fastest-growing form of renewable energy, with net solar generation increasing by an average of 8.3%/year on average (15.7%/year in the non-OECD region) from 2012 to 2040.
Nuclear power consumption will be increasing by 2.3%/year over that period, and natural gas - by 1.9%/year. Coal, the world's slowest-growing energy source, rises by only 0.6%/year and is surpassed by natural gas by 2030.
World energy-related CO2 emissions will rise from 32.2 billion metric tons in 2012 to 35.6 billion metric tons in 2020 and to 43.2 billion metric tons in 2040 – an increase of 34% over the projection period.
