Years of fossil fuel reserves left

This interactive map shows the share of electricity that comes from coal worldwide. Comprehensive data summaries, comparisons, analysis, and projections integrated across all energy sources. Oil companies measure reserves based on how likely they are to go get them. Proven reserves are those they already have the tech and infrastructure to extract.

«If we turn a lot of it over to growing fuels, what do we do about feeding people? It’s not an easy equation. Everything is related and interlinked.» Right now, primary plastics are «ridiculously and unsustainably cheap,» so oil-free alternatives can’t compete on cost, Bauer said. We can try how much oil is left in the world to move away from plastic in products like food packaging, but phasing out medical plastic is more challenging. Plastic is everywhere in hospitals, including in disposable syringes, IV bags, catheters, gloves and bed linens. «If I was to look into the cloudy crystal ball, I would say that long-haul shipping would be one of the large-scale uses of petroleum that we would see 100 years from now,» Apt said.

Producers, net exporters and net importers of natural gas

Soybean fields have taken over large swaths of U.S. farmland — in part because of its use as a biofuel. Synthetic plastic is made from oil, and it is extremely cheap to produce. Jay Apt, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University’s Tepper School of Business and the Department of Engineering and Public Policy, told Live Science that shipping will likely be a voracious oil user for decades. For the past 165 years, crude oil has transformed virtually every aspect of society.

The share from coal, oil and gas individually can be found in the sections below. Global oil demand, still reeling from the effects of the pandemic, is unlikely to catch up with its pre-Covid trajectory. In 2020, the start of our forecast period, oil demand was nearly 9 mb/d below the level seen in 2019, and it is not expected to return to that level before 2023.

The Covid-induced demand shock and a shifting momentum towards investment in clean energy are set to slow the expansion of the world’s oil production capacity over our six-year forecast period. At the same time, the historic collapse in demand in 2020 resulted in a record 9 mb/d spare production capacity cushion that would be enough to keep global markets comfortable at least for the next several years. In the sections above, we looked at the consumption of fossil fuels collectively.

Sources and processing

1. In other words, proved reserves will always fluctuate with demand, as demand dictates the price.
2. And on the other side of the equation, demand for oil is likely to change in the coming years.
3. Consumption of biogasoline (such as ethanol) and biodiesel are excluded while derivatives of coal and natural gas are included.
4. The constraints on our resources and environment—compounded by the rise of the middle class in nations such as China and India—will shape the rest of this century and beyond.

This interactive map shows the share of primary energy from coal worldwide. Fossil fuels (coal, oil, gas) have, and continue to, play a dominant role in global energy systems. In other words, proved reserves will always fluctuate with demand, as demand dictates the price.

SAFs have the added benefit of being compatible with current aircraft engines, and they can be blended up to 50% with traditional jet fuel. Boeing plans to make all of its commercial aircraft capable of flying on SAFs by 2030. By 2050, if we aggressively cut carbon emissions, SAFs will account for between 30% and 45% of aviation fuels, BP estimates. But, we also see that others have seen a massive shift away from coal in recent years – the UK is one such example.

International

The centre of gravity for refined products trade is also set to shift to Asia, resulting in the region’s oil import dependence rising to 82% by 2026. That marks a dramatic change from recent years when the United States dominated world supply growth. In the current policy environment, US production growth is set to resume as investment and activity levels pick up in tandem with rising prices. Yet any increase is unlikely to match the lofty levels of the recent past. The outlook for the tight oil industry has been tempered by an apparent shift in the business model towards spending discipline, free cash flow generation, deleveraging and cash returns for investors.

This therefore measures oil production before trade between countries. Around four-fifths of global primary energy comes from coal, oil, and gas. Over the coming decades, we must rapidly reduce this share by displacing them with low-carbon energy sources.