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Solar could overtake oil as the world’s dominant energy source by 2060 in one scenario envisioned by Royal Dutch Shell.

Renewables could make up as much as 30% to 40% of the global energy mix by 2060, as oil loses its reign as the world’s biggest energy source, the oil giant said in a forecast on the energy sector’s changing landscape.

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Renewable energy could reach perhaps “60-70% saturation if the time horizon is extended still further,” the report noted.

In both scenarios energy consumption is about 80% bigger in 2060 than it is now

This is one of the “messy, complicated and patchy” worlds envisioned by Jeremy Bentham and his scenarios team at the company.

Shell and rivals ExxonMobil Corp. and BP Plc. make periodic predictions on energy forecasts, but Shell’s forecast has looked further out than its competitors and also seems to be the most optimistic on renewables.

Shell’s optimism on renewables is all the more striking as the company abandoned plans to pursue renewable technologies in 2009.