Maybe. The population is expected to peak around 2100. In theory, fewer people would mean less energy use, but you can get a competing process where energy use per capita goes up faster than population declines. The problem is that on our current path, we'll see lots of global warming, and it isn't clear to me how that plays out. There are possible paths where we have significant population decline. Resource wars, famine, and disease are all more likely on a warmer planet.
Could declines in population alter many of the assumptions about global energy demand during the lifetimes of my grandchildren? (About 80 more years)
I suppose we (not me…I’ll be elsewhere) must wait and see if Africa changes its’ current trajectory.
Maybe. The population is expected to peak around 2100. In theory, fewer people would mean less energy use, but you can get a competing process where energy use per capita goes up faster than population declines. The problem is that on our current path, we'll see lots of global warming, and it isn't clear to me how that plays out. There are possible paths where we have significant population decline. Resource wars, famine, and disease are all more likely on a warmer planet.