Over the last century, energy has become the fundamental to the quality of our lives. The worldwide energy consumption has been growing steadily since the industrial revolution; however, the twentieth century saw a rapid twenty-fold increase in the use of fossil fuels.

According to the United States Department of Energy, world energy consumption reached 421 quadrillion British thermal units (Btu) in 2003 and is expected to reach 563 quadrillion Btu in 2015 and 722 quadrillion Btu by 2030.
This overdependence on energy has lead to sharp increase in energy prices and concerns over energy crisis and air pollution.

For any country, the energy sector is of vital importance as various industrial sectors are very much dependent on an abundant and uninterrupted supply of energy, most of which today comes from burning fossil fuels.

Important for this sufficient energy supply are reforms in the sector, an appropriate legislative and regulatory framework and technological developments in the areas of clean energy and energy efficiency. Other issues such as access to energy sources, widespread use of traditional resources and dependence on imported energy sources constitute a significant obstacle to social and economic development.