Source page: McKinsey & Company
Commentary
Flying high on sustainable fuels
Oil & Gas | Sustainability
January 31, 2024 – Demand for sustainable fuels is expected to increase as the world aims to achieve decarbonization targets. Partner Ole Rolser and coauthors note that the use of sustainable fuels could grow significantly across sectors, even in the hard-to-abate transportation segments. In aviation, for instance, sustainable aviation fuels may be the only option to replace fossil fuels in wide-body long-distance planes, since hydrogen and battery options are still in early stages of development.
To read the article, see “Global Energy Perspective 2023: Sustainable fuels outlook,” January 10, 2024.
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Visual form
Small-multiple stacked area charts with sector demand bars.
Layout / body structure
Five sector panels run across the top row and matching total-energy-demand bars sit below, so the reader first compares the changing fuel mix and then the change in overall sector demand.
What is being compared
It compares the 2019 to 2050 energy-supply mix across maritime, aviation, buildings and industry, passenger cars, and commercial vehicles under a further-acceleration scenario.
Measurement system
The top panels show percentage mix by energy type, and the lower bars show total energy demand in exajoules for each sector in 2019 and 2050.
Visible structure inside the graphic
Each upper panel layers fossil, electricity, hydrogen, sustainable fuel, and other energy sources, and each lower mini-chart shows the sector’s total-demand change between the two endpoints.
Main takeaway from the visual
Sustainable fuels become the visible gap-filler in the hard-to-electrify transport sectors, while passenger cars swing much more heavily toward electricity and buildings and industry remain mixed.
Key standout values or extremes
Buildings and industry decline from 34.9 to 25.1 exajoules, passenger cars from 8.2 to 2.2, commercial vehicles from 4.6 to 2.4, aviation rises from 2.5 to 2.9, and maritime falls from 2.3 to 1.5.
Controls / sequence, when applicable
This is a static chart image with no in-chart controls to operate.
Companion media, when applicable
There is no separate companion audio or video; the chart image is the full visual on this page.