By 2040, the world’s population is expected to exceed 9 billion. Demographers forecast that three-quarters of the world will reside in Asia or Africa at this time.

Projected Word Population Growth – Image via Flickr by Mo Ibrahim Foundation under Creative Commons 2.0

The growing world population will create new competition for energy resources. It will also likely spur new innovation in energy as fast-growing countries struggle to deal with rising demand and constrained energy resources. China and India, in particular, will face the biggest challenges in managing population growth. As the people in these countries move from rural areas into cities, demand for energy will certainly rise. This could have an enormous impact on energy prices.