This report revisits a topic explored in a 2007 Commission report that included a series of widely accepted energy predictions, many of which have proven significantly mistaken by 2015. The report assesses the complex and changing relationship between energy supply, the global economy, and geopolitics in a world in which North America has seen a revolutionary change in its production of both oil and natural gas, where it is now a net exporter. It is also a world where Europe continues to strive to diversify supply and maximize flexibility in the face of a security challenge in Ukraine. It is a world where the Asia Pacific region aims to diversify supply, increase conservation, and reassess nuclear power in the wake of Fukushima. Across this backdrop, efforts to reduce the negative impact of fossil fuel use on climate are examined and progress graded.
