Page - 18 - in Water, Energy, and Environment - A Primer

2.4.1 Importantquestions Theseprojectionsmaskseveralimportantquestions.Howurgentis it toreducegrowthinglobalenergydemandandrelatedemissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases? When will conventional oil production reach peak supply, with attendant impacts onoil price and international competition for resources? What can the mining of oil-rich tar sands and the fracking of shale deposits rich in oil and natural gasmean for future oil and natural gas supplies?Howvulnerable todisruption is our energy infrastructure, onwhichwedependsoheavily?Howquicklycan renewable andadvancednuclear energy technologies bebrought on line to replace fossil fuels? The answers to these questions will largelydetermineourenergy future in the21st century. 2.4.2 Howisenergyused? We also need to ask: how is energy being used today and how is it likely to be used in the decades ahead? The industrial sector, which includes agriculture, mining, manufacturing, and construction, is responsible formost global energy consumption today, and will continue to be the largest end-user (more than 50%) through the EIA’s projection period. The transportation sector sits in second place and the buildings sector comes in third (seeFigure 2.3). Figure2.3 Energyconsumptionbyend-usesector (Source:USEnergy InformationAdministration). Water,Energy, andEnvironment–APrimer18