45- www. energy- future. com Industry facts The world's population has doubled in the past 50 years to 6.7 billion and it's expected to reach 9 billion or more by 2050 - a lot more people wanting heat, light and mobility. That's not all: in China and India alone, more than 500 million people will move from a rural to an urban way of life in the next two decades. The world has no experience of industrialisation on this scale. When Europe industrialised, it involved 50- 100 million people moving from a rural to an urban way of life. It was 150- 200 million people in the case of the US. And in Europe and the US, the changes took place over several decades. Energy demand is set to grow - fast

46- www. world- petroleum. org 4.2- A sustainable future was on gas condensates, so- called wet gas, while natural gas, or dry gas, was flared off. The US company overhauled the project, in-stalling processing facilities, compressors and the pipelines required to send gas that previously would have been flared back off-shore for reinjection into the reservoir. The process cut flared gas volumes by more than 90% after it became fully operational in 2005. It also helped maximise the amount of gas available for Marathon's Equatorial Guinea liquefied natural gas project, the first stage of which was completed in 2007. The by- products of hydrocarbons process-ing are also being used through the develop-ment of cogeneration facilities linked to refiner-ies and petrochemicals plants. Cogeneration entails producing power and heat simultane-ously. The excess heat captured from refin-ing or power- generation processes can be used as a substitute for carbon- intensive ac-tivities, by converting it into steam for use by industry or by using it directly to heat nearby houses or business premises. ExxonMobil has taken a lead in this area, building more than 1.5 gigawatts of cogenera-tion capacity in five countries between 2004 and 2009. One of the latest of its cogenera-tion plants came on stream at its refinery in Antwerp, Belgium, in early 2009. By supply-ing heat and steam for industrial processes, in addition to generating 125 megawatts of power, the plant will reduce Belgium's car-bon emissions by around 200,000 tonnes a year, or the equivalent of taking 90,000 cars off the road, the company says. Going green And then, of course, there is direct invest-ment in renewable energy. Many of the big oil companies have diversified their busi-nesses to include renewables. Players such as BP have substantial interests in the solar and wind industries, while most oil compa-nies have invested heavily in biofuels, which can replace or be mixed with gasoline to re-duce carbon emissions from transport. Those investments have, in part, been motivated by government regulations requir-ing biofuels to occupy a minimum share of the fuel mix. Yet despite their environmental promise, biofuels have proved controversial: doubts have been raised about their environ-mental and economic sustainability. When the energy required to cultivate, harvest and transport the crops, and then process them into fuels, is taken into account, there might not always a carbon saving compared with fossil fuels. Also, because the crops often occupy land that might otherwise be used for food crops, there is a risk that cultivat-ing crops to make biofuels could lead to food shortages and food- price inflation. Technology - being developed mainly by energy companies - could provide the an-swer. The industry is researching the devel-opment of biofuels that could theoretically be carbon neutral, cultivated from land un-suitable for food crops and from inedible parts of plants ( see p78 and p114). Success could revolutionise the transport industry. The climate challenge is one to be taken up by all industries and individuals around the world. But expect to see the oil and gas industry playing a lynchpin role. ?? ExxonMobil's cogeneration plant at its Antwerp refinery will reduce Belgium's carbon emissions by the equivalent of taking 90,000 cars off the road