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A recent New York Times article, China to Pass U.S. in 2009 in Emissions, includes many alarming facts concerning the future of our planet. "Global energy demand is projected to grow 53 percent by 2030. Oil consumption is seen jumping to 116 million barrels a day, compared with 85 million barrels now..."

"Demand for coal...will rise 59%" and "...energy-related carbon dioxide emissions will increase 55 percent, to 44.1 billion tons in 2030."

The facts cited in the article are not new, but are nonetheless alarming.

Surely the lesson to be learned here is that, in a finite world, resources, regardless of how vast, can never be sufficient to meet ever-increasing demand. Although per capita consumption of energy and resources in developed countries must be reduced, the main driver of increased demand for energy is population growth. Population growth must first be halted and eventually reversed so that energy demand can be stabilized at a sustainable level.

For more information on this topic, see the following publications available on our website:

• Lindsey Grant's excellent book Too Many People, published in 2000. On page 34 Grant writes: "Overall, the world is expected to emit 72 percent more carbon in 2020 than in 1990. We need a 50-75 percent decrease: instead we get a 72 percent increase within a generation."
  
  
• Forgotten Fundamentals of the Energy Crisis (1998) by Albert Bartlett. This NPG Special Report has become a classic and is must reading for anyone concerned with the energy crisis.