(Photo of Chinese coal plant from Flickr and photographer ishmatt ).
Global CO2 emissions will grow 43% by 2035 if major nations keep the same energy policies, the U.S. Energy Information Administration predicted last week in it's International Energy Outlook 2010 report. Most of the increase will come from growth in Asia.
Oil prices will double to about $133 a barrel and energy use is predicted to increase almost 50%.
Greater use of renewable energy, especially in fast-growing places like China, could change the picture, the EIA report says. So could a swelling price of oil, to above $200 a barrel.
Cutting emissions from power plants could happen first because there technologies exist that are proven to be much less carbon-intensive. Transportation emissions, however, may be harder to slow, IEIA said.
Only wind and hydroelectric are economically competitive with fossil fuels, EIA said.
But the agency has underestimated wind and has a bias against solar and other developing alternatives, according to Joe Romm, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress and head of climateprogress.org .
For more, see Scientific Amercian.
(Sources: ClimateWire, Scientific American)
