Energy hunger has not been satisfied

This short article discusses the results of a study made by the Royal Dutch/Shell Group on the way world energy requirements could possibly develop in the future. Two scenarios presented by the study - 'Dynamics as usual' and 'The Spirit of the Coming Age' - are discussed. They tackle the questions of how long fossil energy reserves will last and which new energy resources will replace them. The role of natural gas as a way of bridging the gap between oil and renewables is discussed, as is global energy consumption, which is permanently increasing. According to Shell, renewable forms of energy are catching up, but, in the next twenty years, can only compete with oil, gas and coal when their costs are reduced or when new quality attributes are discovered or new applications are developed