By 2030, gas will be the world's second largest source of energy

The Paris-based IEA said in the "World Energy Outlook 2018" report that demand for energy will increase by more than a quarter between 2017 and 2040, assuming that energy efficiency is improving, while without these improvements in demand doubled, according to Reuters.

According to IEA estimates, global gas demand would increase by 1.6% annually by 2040 and would be 45% higher than today.

Estimates are based on the IEA's "New Policy Scenario" document, which takes into account legislation and emission reduction policies, as well as the fight against climate change, and is also part of the hypothesis of greater energy efficiency in the use of fuel, energy efficiency of buildings and other factors.

China, already the world's largest importer of oil and coal, will soon become the largest importer of gas, and net imports would approach the European Union level by 2040, the IEA predicts.

According to Reuters estimates, China has pushed Japan from the position of the world's largest importer of natural gas, based on data from the Chinese customs administration.

Although China is the third largest user of natural gas in the world, behind the United States and Russia, it needs to import about 40% of its needs because domestic production can not "rush" demand.

Emerging Asian economies will share in global gas demand of about 50%, and their share of TPG imports will double to 60% by 2040, according to the IEA report.

Global demand for electricity will increase by 2.1% per year, largely due to rising consumption in developing countries. By 2040, electricity will account for a quarter of the total energy consumption used by end users, such as homes and industries.

Coal and renewable energy sources will replace the places in the mix of energy for the production of electricity. The share of coal in this mix in 2040 is expected to fall to a quarter of the current 40%, while renewable energy from the current quarter will increase to just over 40%.

Carbon dioxide emissions related to electricity production will continue to grow slowly, but steadily, by 2040. CO2 emissions from the 2017 level, as predicted by the IEA, increased by 10% to 36 gigatonates by 2040, mainly due to increase in oil and gas consumption.

This path is "far from the mark" which, according to scientific knowledge, needs to be taken to deal with climate change, according to the IEA report.