Goodbye gasoline? Not so fast

Gasoline use over the next two decades is expected to soar as developing nations get richer and more people there buy cars, but gas alone won’t be able to shoulder the burden.

Along with their surging economies, the number of cars in India and China is expected to jump to 1.2 billion by 2050 from 20 million just a few years ago.
“Will oil be able to supply this increase in demand?” Jim Dalton, a director at Cambridge Energy Research Associates (CERA), asked at the group’s annual energy conference here in Houston.

It will certainly supply a lot of it, he said. Dalton expects oil use in the worldwide transport sector to jump 50% by 2030. But it will need some help to meet the world’s energy needs.

Experts here say the fuel mix of the future must rely not just on gasoline, but a variety of sources – everything from biofuels and electric power to synthetic fuels, natural gas and greater efficiency will all help meet this growing demand.

Although diversifying the world’s fuel sources may help meet growing demand, the development of alternative fuel sources is still in a nascent stage with serious ecological and humanitarian concerns remaining unclear.

CNN