Will oil still be used in 2050?
Energy giant BP predicts oil and gas will become a dramatically smaller part of the global energy mix by 2050, while zero-carbon alternatives like wind and solar energy will continue to increase their penetration, the company said in its 12th annual energy outlook report published Monday.
In the APS, global oil demand peaks soon after 2025 at 97 mb/d and declines to 77 mb/d in 2050. Oil use falls by around 4 mb/d in countries with net zero pledges between 2020 and 2030, but that is offset by an 8 mb/d increase in the rest of the world.
In its 2021 International Energy Outlook, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) projected that the world's oil supply will continue to meet the growing global energy demand until at least 2050 [source: EIA].
Conclusion: how long will fossil fuels last? It is predicted that we will run out of fossil fuels in this century. Oil can last up to 50 years, natural gas up to 53 years, and coal up to 114 years. Yet, renewable energy is not popular enough, so emptying our reserves can speed up.
Oil consumption in history
The estimated reserves are about the same - 1.5 trillion barrels of oil. So if we use up all the world's reserves, we will burn as much oil in the 50 years from 2018 to 2068 as we did in the 68 years from 1950 to 2018.
If the past 35 years is any guide, not only should we not expect to run out of fossil fuels any time soon, we should not expect to have less fossil fuels in the future than we do now. In short, the world is likely to be awash in fossil fuels for decades and perhaps even centuries to come.
Global oil demand is projected to slow down in the long term, rising annually by only 0.4 mbpd until 2027, compared to 1.6 mbpd until 2023. Meanwhile global biofuels demand is projected to rise by 44% between 2022 and 2027 as it increasingly substitutes for petroleum-based products.
World Oil Reserves
The world has proven reserves equivalent to 46.6 times its annual consumption levels. This means it has about 47 years of oil left (at current consumption levels and excluding unproven reserves).
- Malaysia -- 15 years remaining. ...
- Algeria -- 15 years remaining. ...
- Brazil -- 14 years remaining. ...
- Angola -- 12 years remaining. ...
- China -- 12 years remaining. ...
- Mexico -- 11 years remaining. ...
- Indonesia -- 10 years remaining. ...
- Argentina -- 9 years remaining.
Scientists say that nations must stop approving new oil drilling and coal mining if the world has any hope of constraining global warming to relatively safe levels. But without a dramatic shift by governments and corporations around the world, the market will be demanding oil and gas for years to come.
What resources will run out by 2050?
Gold and other elements will run out by 2050
According to him, “in this scenario it is possible that the reserves of some of these elements will be exhausted in 2050 — such as gold and antimony — or in less than 100 years — in the case of molybdenum and zinc.”
Saudi Arabia has proven reserves equivalent to 221.2 times its annual consumption. This means that, without Net Exports, there would be about 221 years of oil left (at current consumption levels and excluding unproven reserves).
Assuming the same annual rate of U.S. dry natural gas production in 2021 of about 34.52 Tcf, the United States has enough dry natural gas to last about 86 years.
While our planet as a whole may never run out of water, it's important to remember that clean freshwater is not always available where and when humans need it. In fact, half of the world's freshwater can be found in only six countries. More than a billion people live without enough safe, clean water.
WASHINGTON—Excluding the United States, the world holds an estimated 565 billion barrels (bbo) of undiscovered, technically recoverable conventional oil; 5,606 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of undiscovered, technically recoverable conventional natural gas; and 167 billion barrels of undiscovered, technically recoverable ...
Running out of Oil May Result in Your Line Having to Be Bled
The worst that could happen, apart from your furnace shutting off in frigid temperatures, is that a technician will have to come in and bleed the oil line.
Without that power, electricity grids would see widespread blackouts. Within a few weeks, a lack of oil — still the major fuel used for trucking and shipping goods worldwide — would impede deliveries of food and other essential goods.
Without coal and oil, early chemists would have faced the much more challenging proposition of synthesising long-chain hydrocarbons from ethanol or vegetable oil. Plastics and synthetic rubber would not be developed until much later and would probably have been too expensive to use for toys and disposable packaging.
Essentially, it is theoretically possible that human bodies could become something like the substances we recognize as fossil fuels, but it would require several extremely unlikely conditions to occur in order to produce this type of transformation.
Electric cars will undoubtedly impact the oil industry. Here are a few key takeaways: Oil demand will likely decrease: According to OPEC, electric cars will reduce oil demand by 16 million barrels per day by 2040. While this may not seem like a significant number, it represents over 15% of current global oil demand.
Will petroleum be the major fuel in 2050?
The share of fossil fuels as a primary energy source will fall from 80 percent in 2019 to between 55 and 20 percent by 2050, while renewables' share will grow from 10 percent to between 35 percent and 65 percent over the same time period.
Water is the new oil between wars and conflicts
Global warming has already begun to show how it can affect the world's available water resources. Water is the resource on which our entire existence relies on. Added to this is the simultaneous growth of the world population which is increasing by 83 million per year.
Venezuela holds the largest oil reserves globally, with over 300 billion barrels mainly located in the Orinoco Belt at the southern end of the eastern Orinoco River Basin.
| Name | Price | Unit |
|---|---|---|
| RBOB Gasoline | 2.06 | USD per Gallone |
| Uranium | 82.75 | USD per 250 Pfund U308 |
| Oil (Brent) | 75.65 | USD per Barrel |
| Oil (WTI) | 71.21 | USD per Barrel |
Proved reserves of crude oil and lease condensate. We estimate that the United States had 44,418 million barrels of proved reserves of crude oil and lease condensate as of December 31, 2021—an increase of 16% from year-end 2020.
