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Energy savings
…increased activity, such as home building and increased home sizes. In the transport sector, most efficiency improvements were realised in passenger vehicles – around one-sixth of the total. These energy savings were higher than the increased demand due to the rising number, frequency and distance of people travelling. Efficiency improvements in freight transport, such as trucks, drove around 1% of the total energy savings. This was lower than the rise in freight transport activity over the same period. Need more information? IEA (2025), Energy End-uses and Efficiency Indicators.IEA (2023), Decomposition of change in IEA total final energy use.
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The Value of Demand Flexibility
…system planning and operation. By shifting or adjusting electricity use in response to system conditions, demand flexibility improves the utilisation of existing generation and network assets, reduces peak stress, lowers losses and curtailment, and supports more efficient integration of clean energy. It also delivers wider benefits, including enhanced energy security, lower system and consumer costs, and reduced emissions, when appropriately enabled and valued.The policy brief identifies key trends driving the need for flexibility, the main barriers limiting its uptake, and priority areas for policy action. It concludes that integrating demand flexibility alongside energy efficiency within regulatory, market and planning…
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Scaling Up Transition Finance
…to cut global emissions, especially in areas where clean technologies are not yet commercially available or cost-competitive. This is where transition finance comes in: it can help emissions-intensive countries, companies and sectors shift over time towards sustainable practices that are aligned with long-term climate and development goals.In this new report, the International Energy Agency (IEA) provides analyses to map the landscape for transition finance, explains why it matters, and highlights approaches that could move the debate forward.The report also examines the role of transition finance in the steel and cement, critical minerals, and the natural…
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IEA Guide to Reporting Energy Technology RD&D Budgets
…ensuring consistency and comparability. The manual is divided into two main sections: fundamentals of RD&D budget reporting and a detailed classification of energy technologies. It defines RD&D in alignment with the OECD Frascati Manual and clarifies the scope of public and private sector reporting. It also provides instructions for completing the IEA questionnaire, covering budgetary stages, metadata reporting, and common issues. The classification system spans nine major technology groups, including energy end uses, fossil fuels, renewables, nuclear, hydrogen, CO₂ capture, critical minerals, and cross-cutting technologies. This structure supports accurate data collection and policy analysis, enabling governments and…
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What Next for the Global Car Industry
An Energy Technology Perspectives Special Report The global car industry has operated under relatively stable conditions for decades. The world’s largest car manufacturers are based in the European Union, Korea, Japan and the United States, and – more recently – in China, and the car industry is a major contributor to the economy in these countries. The strength of many of these car makers is built on decades at the forefront of technological innovation around the internal combustion engine (ICE), as well as highly integrated and optimised supply chains that allow for vehicles and their components to be produced at low…
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Affordability
…the energy savings of efficiency measures can be initially lower than expected. In India, time-saving appliance ownership, such as of washing machines or refrigerators, is associated with a 15% increase of employment among women and an increased school attendance by older children.As people gain access to electricity, they acquire new equipment, often starting with light bulbs, followed by televisions, and finally fans, particularly in hot locations. As available power increases and electricity becomes more reliable, refrigerators are installed as well. For many products, such as refrigerators, highly efficient models use less than half of the energy of inefficient…
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Emission reductions
…to clean cooking, air pollution is linked to around 3.7 million premature deaths a year. Replacing open fires and inefficient stoves with cleaner, more modern stoves and fuels reduces household air pollution and improves efficiency. Indoor air pollution from liquid petroleum gas (LPG) cookstoves is only around 5% of pollution from traditional biomass, while being over three times more efficient. Switching from LPG to electric cooking would further reduce indoor air pollution by 25% and is over 1.5 times more efficient. Need more information? IEA (2024), Energy Efficiency 2024.IEA (2023), A Vision for Clean Cooking Access for All.
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Manufacturing and Trade Model
…and Trade (MaT) Model was first developed for the 2024 edition of Energy Technology Perspectives (ETP) to produce scenario projections of manufacturing and trade across six key energy technology supply chains. These cover solar photovoltaics (PV), wind turbines, electric cars, batteries, electrolysers and heat pumps. This model is now used to generate detailed sector-by-sector and region-by-region long-term scenarios in IEA publications such as the World Energy Outlook and Global EV Outlook.The MaT model is part of the IEA’s broader modelling framework and is closely linked to the Global Energy and Climate Model (GEC)…
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Financing the Modernisation of Power Systems Beyond Coal
The role of transition credits in Southeast Asia Coal is a central component of power systems in Southeast Asia, even as governments have committed to reducing coal‑related emissions. Rapid electricity demand growth, alongside coal’s role in system adequacy, reliability and energy security, complicates efforts to accelerate coal transitions. Recent volatility in international gas markets has reinforced the short‑term economic and security value of existing coal assets, adding complexity to national transition strategies. The region’s young coal fleet also implies substantial long‑term emissions if plants continue operating at current utilisation rates.Against this backdrop, new approaches are being explored…
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Electricity Market Design
…variable generation, greater decentralisation and evolving patterns of electricity use, the ability of market designs to deliver secure and affordable electricity has never been more critical. If market arrangements do not keep pace with these developments, the functioning of electricity systems could become more uncertain and more costly.This report provides a cross-regional assessment of how wholesale electricity markets and their complementary policy mechanisms are performing today. We find that short-term markets have continued to operate reliably and efficiently, translating real-time conditions into meaningful price signals even as system complexity grows. Medium- and long-term markets, however…
