The world isn’t going to kick its energy-sucking habits anytime soon, the U.S. Energy Information Administration predicted Wednesday. By 2030, global energy demand will grow 50 percent, says the EIA report, mostly in China and other developing countries. Some 124 new nuclear plants will be built worldwide by 2030, and natural gas will be in demand to “replace oil wherever possible.” Renewables will grow about 2 percent each year — but so will coal, which is already well ahead in the energy-production game (and in the earth-effing category). Oil prices, which closed at $135 a barrel on Wednesday, could be as low as $113 or as high as $186 a barrel in 2030. The EIA estimates assume no mandatory international agreement to cap carbon-dioxide emissions; if such a pact is made, fossil-fuel use “could be altered substantially.” With no CO2 deal, the agency predicts, the world will emit 51 percent more CO2 in 2030 than it did in 2005.
