Scenarios of the alternative energetics development in the age of the fourth industrial revolution: Clean energy prospects and policy implications

The Fourth Industrial Revolution is a global challenge of the modern times for sustainable and environmental development of energy economics. On the one hand, the leading technologies of the fourth technological mode (Industry 4.0) are often characterized by large energy efficiency, which allows reducing the specific energy consumption (energy efficiency of production and consumption).

On the other hand, ubiquitous automation raises the total need of economy for energy, since economic functions, which were earlier based on manual (or conventionally manual) labor (which energy intensity is minimal) now become automated, and, therefore, require more energy. Thus, for example, quick growth of energy consumption in the world economy was observed in 2014, when electric power consumption reached 3,131.68 kWh per capita (as compared to 2,274.94 kWh per capita in 2009) (World Bank, 2022).