Exxon released its global long term energy forecast to 2040 recently forecasting worldwide growth in energy demand that helps to improve the living standards of billions of people in developing countries and a continuation of an abundant supply in fossil fuels that dominate the worldwide supply picture despite increases in renewable energy.(i) Exxon expects world energy demand to grow 35 percent by 2040 as electricity and other energy sources reach people in the developing world who live without power or burn wood and even animal waste for cooking and heating. Those growing needs are expected to be somewhat offset by a slow decline in consumption in the developed countries in part due to an average projected economic growth rate of less than half that projected for the developing world. One key assumption that Exxon assumes is an $80 per metric ton implicit tax on carbon dioxide emissions by 2040.[1]
