World's largest oil firm chief touts research to make fossil fuels 'cleaner'

The head of the world's largest oil company said that renewable sources can't meet the world's growing energy needs so research dollars should be aimed at both developing renewable sources and at making fossil fuels cleaner.

Abdallah S. Jum'ah, president and chief executive officer of the Saudi Arabian Oil Co., also known as Saudi Aramco, said that expected growth in the industrialized world coupled with a growing global population and industrialization of the developing world will significantly increase global energy needs over the next 25 years.

Though renewable energy sources are expected to meet more of the world's energy needs than they do today, the increase is expected to be minor, just about 1 percent of the global energy supply. That means the bulk of the world's energy needs, roughly 85 percent, will continue to be met by fossil fuels: oil, coal, and natural gas, Jum'ah said.

"The immediate future looks a lot like the present and the past," Jum'ah said.

Jum'ah spoke to a packed audience at Harvard's Science Center on Jan. 31. He spoke as part of the Harvard Center for the Environment's ongoing lecture series on The Future of Energy.