IEA See Peak Fossil Fuel Demand This Decade: FT

The seemingly relentless growth of oil, gas and coal demand is set to come to an end this decade based on new projections from the IEA according to FT. Demand is set to peak in the coming years based only on current policy settings by governments worldwide and even without any new climate policies according to Fatih Birol, Executive Director of the IEA.

• “This is the first time that a peak in demand is visible for each fuel this decade — earlier than many people anticipated,” Birol said.
• Demand is set to peak before 2030 primarily driven by “spectacular growth” of clean energy technologies such as solar panels and electric vehicles, structural shifts in China’s economy and the ramifications of the global energy crisis. The shift will bring forward the peak in global greenhouse gas emissions.
• Fuel demand will vary considerably among regions with the drop in advanced economies partially offset by growth in some developing economies.
• The demand peaks don’t remove the need for investment in oil and gas supply with the natural declines from existing fields.