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Concept
World energy resources
Summary
World energy resources are the estimated maximum capacity for energy production given all available resources on Earth. They can be divided by type into fossil fuel, nuclear fuel and renewable resources.
Fossil fuel
Remaining reserves of fossil fuel are estimated as:
These are the proven energy reserves; real reserves may be four or more times larger. These numbers are very uncertain. Estimating the remaining fossil fuels on the planet depends on a detailed understanding of Earth's crust. With modern drilling technology, we can drill wells in up to 3 km of water to verify the exact composition of the geology; but half of the ocean is deeper than 3 km, leaving about a third of the planet beyond the reach of detailed analysis.
There is uncertainty in the total amount of reserves, but also in how much of these can be recovered gainfully, for technological, economic and political reasons, such as the accessibility of fossil deposits, the levels of sulfur and other pollutants in the oil and the coal, transportation costs, and societal instability in producing regions. In general the easiest to reach deposits are the first extracted.
List of countries by coal reserves
Coal is the most abundant and burned fossil fuel. This was the fuel that launched the industrial revolution and continued to grow in use; China, which already has many of the world's most polluted cities, was in 2007 building about two coal-fired power plants every week. Coal's large reserves would make it a popular candidate to meet the energy demand of the global community, short of global warming concerns and other pollutants.
Natural gas
Natural gas is a widely available fossil fuel with estimated 850 000 km3 in recoverable reserves and at least that much more using enhanced methods to release shale gas. Improvements in technology and wide exploration led to a major increase in recoverable natural gas reserves as shale fracking methods were developed. At present usage rates, natural gas could supply most of the world's energy needs for between 100 and 250 years, depending on increase in consumption over time.
Official source
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