Energy and poverty

The latest edition of the World Energy Outlook depicts a future in which energy use continues to grow inexorably, fossil fuels continue to dominate the energy mix and developing countries fast approach OECD countries as the largest consumers of commercial energy. Although the Earth's energy resources are adequate to meet rising demand for at least the next three decades, the projections raise serious concerns about the security of energy supplies, investment in energy infrastructure, the threat of environmental damage caused by energy production and use and the unequal access of the world's population to modern energy.