Project Publication

The Future of Global Energy

Aspen Global Change Institute (AGCI)
Aspen Global Change Institute (AGCI)
July 2, 2019

It is a generational challenge to meet the world’s energy requirements, while remaining within the bounds of acceptable costs and environmental impacts. To this end, substantial research has explored various energy futures on a global scale. These questions and activities walk undergraduate and graduate level students through exercises that explore the pace and scale of the global energy transition that will unfold over the coming century.

The questions draw on the AGCI Energy Table – an open-access, comprehensive energy reference featuring data on the availability, production, costs, and growth rates of energy sources and storage technologies currently in use or development. Energy sources include coal, oil, natural gas, nuclear, solar, wind, hydropower, ocean, geothermal and biomass. Each cell in the Energy Table provides data from recent peer reviewed publications and major institutional reports (such as the International Energy Administration), with hyperlinked references provided.