Eight Bio-based Technologies for 2050
Source: RenewableEnergyWorld.com
Wonder how the world will ever produce enough energy and cut back enough carbon? Here are eight technology platforms for 2050 that could make the difference.
What kind of technologies will evolve in the 2030s, and even the 2040s, to transform our fuel, food, and materials choices, and lead us towards some of the fuel targets outlined for 2050 by the International Energy Agency? In looking that far down the line, we have some long term trends to guide us.
The Scary Trends
1. Population growth
The UN says that the global population will increase to 9 billion by 2050, up from 6.6 billion today (although population is expected thereafter to stabilize).
2. Increasing wealth and energy intensity in the developing world
Not only will the developing world have a lot more mouths to feed, they will be more wealthy and increasingly have the buying power to achieve what is generally known today as the energy-intensive Western lifestyle.
This has disquieting implications. Global energy use totalled 472 exojoules in 2008, but if everyone had used the same amount of energy as is annually consumed in the US, energy demand would have been 2078 exojoules, and if population and demand trends hold, that would be 2834 exojoules by 2050, an increase of roughly 500 percent... [Full Story]
