The world faces an unsustainable increase in temperatures and a doubling of oil and gas prices by 2050 if current economic and technological trends continue.

There will also be a rapid adoption of renewable energy and a revival in coal and nuclear energy as demand for electricity quadruples by the midpoint of the century.

These are the stark findings contained in a major new EU scientific study, World Energy Technological Outlook - 2050.

The report predicts global energy consumption will more than double by 2050 to the equivalent of 22 billion tonnes of oil per year in 2050, up from about 10 billion tonnes.

The rapid increase in energy demand will be fuelled by global economic growth. Energy demand in developing countries will overtake demand in the industrialised world by 2010. By 2050, the developing world will account for two-thirds of total world energy consumption.

Oil and gas prices will also double to $110 and $100 respectively during this period, reflecting increased scarcity of fossil fuel energy resources. Coal and nuclear energy will make a comeback and renewable energy will become more important from 2020.

A large number of offshore wind farms and fourth-generation nuclear power stations will be built to cope with rising energy demand. But the report notes that CO2 emissions will double by 2050 on current trends, leading to a concentration of 1,000 parts per million by volume in the atmosphere. It concludes this would cause temperatures to rise by more than three degrees by 2100.

The report also considers a scenario where world leaders adopt more ambitious policies to combat climate change.

Under this scenario, industrialised states take early action to increase energy efficiency, develop hydrogen energy technologies and boost nuclear energy to account for 40 per cent of all electricity generation.