Our Common Energy Future

• Author: Christian Bogmans
• Pages: 13-15

Illustration: Laura Spofford

What Do 167 Years

of Data Say?

What Do 167 Years

of Data Say?

What Do 167 Years

of Data Say?

IMF RESEARCH perspectives | IMF.org/researchbulletin 13

The consu mption of energy services—he ating, lig hting, tr ansportation ,

and the like —is essential to the funct ioning of modern economies. At the

same time, si nce most energy for these ser vices is supplied by fossil fuels,

our high energ y dependence triggers a mu ltitude of environmental

externa lities, with climate ch ange being the “greatest and widest-

ranging ma rket failure the world has ever seen” (Stern 2006, i). To curb

carbon emissions, t he world must reduce its consumption of fossi l fuels.

This could i n principle result from an early saturat ion of total global energ y

consumpt ion and/or acceleration of the ongoing energ y transition toward

low-carbon energy sources , such as nuclear, wind, and solar.

Christian Bogmans

cbogmans@IMF.org