The favorite fossil fuel of the world has been oil, and since the 1960s its consumption in our world has only continued to grow. Giant oil companies refuse to accept any evidence of the fossil fuel global warming connection, continuing to secure more undiscovered reserves. It may seem obvious that with the looming dangers of global warming and the oil consumption hitting its peaks that the world would try to get away from using fossil fuels. But the statistics and predictions tell us otherwise. The future of fossil fuels doesn’t show any signs of reduction in use, and, if anything, it will only increase.

According to the IEA – the International Energy Agency – the average consumption of energy all across the globe will keep on increasing at a rate of about 2 percent per year. If the 2 percent per year increase persists, this means that in 35 years the global energy consumption will double! So, to put these numbers in perspective, the total energy consumption across the globe will be twice as high in the year 2040 as it was in the year 2007. And that is an astronomical increase!

When it comes to global warming, it is very important for us to keep track of the amount of fossil fuels we use, as the future of fossil fuels is likely to only exacerbate the negative effects of global warming. When fossil fuels are burned, they are converted to carbon dioxide. This happens as a result of doing simple things like driving cars and flying to see your family for Christmas. Carbon dioxide is considered a harmful greenhouse gas, which is one of the fundamental causes of global warming. Unfortunately, according to statistics, about 80 percent of the energy used around the world currently comes from fossil fuels.

If we want to even begin to mitigate the harmful effects of global warming, we must reduce of use of fossil fuels in the future as much as we can. As we already mentioned, the energy consumption, going at the current rate, will double in 35 years, and the only way we can stop the effects of global warming is by making a worldwide effort to drastically reduce our consumption of fossil fuels in the future, preferably within the next 10-15 years. We simply cannot afford to live out the scenario predicted by the IEA.

Another factor that is quite dooming is that the current amount of alternative technologies cannot possibly supply all the necessary energy the world needs, so they are not a viable alternative at all. In order to really thwart the effects of global warming, we need to cap our energy use and use energy in more efficient ways in general. This, however, will still not be enough. Our lifestyles will have to change drastically in order to prevent the future of fossil fuels from ruining our world and, in turn, our lives.

For more information, go to:
http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/ieo/highlights.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fossil_fuel

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