Can a Sustainable Energy Supply Be Maintained in the Future?

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Can a sustainable energy supply be maintained in the future? Ensuring the supply of energy for future generations and preventing further environmental damage is one of the main concerns facing the generations of today. Using current sources of power at the levels we are today are unsustainable and will result in serious environmental consequences. By developing alternatives and reducing the demand of energy, sustainable energy supply may be achieved. Supplying a sustainable source of energy for today’s population is already a challenge, however in the future the world’s population is set to hit a peak of 7.8 billion. From the graph you can see that, in the past, the supply of energy has always followed the pattern of increasing population. This was because the world still had large reserves of untapped fossil fuels, allowing for an increase in production. However as these reserves begin to diminish the supply of energy may fall behind the increase in population unless an alternative form of energy is found, capable of filling the large energy gap left behind from fossil fuels. This coupled with an increase in living for the majority of the world, especially RICs such as India where its oil consumption had increased by 40 million tonnes over a 6 year period, makes supplying the world’s energy demands a very difficult task. The main source of energy for the majority of the world comes from fossil fuels; however this reliance is a large cause for concern as these are finite and cause great environmental damage. It is believed that we have reached peak oil production, meaning that we are producing more than we ever have or ever will in the future. It is thought that at current levels of consumption we only have 40 years of oil supplies remaining. Resulting in increasing prices and increased reliance on unstable oil rich nations that can limit supply so as to earn
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