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Gaining an Edge
The Role of Energy Efficiency in Enhancing Competitiveness Energy efficiency delivers more than energy savings and emission reductions – it can also improve the competitiveness of countries and firms. From increased profitability to job creation, energy efficiency helps firms compete amid high costs, growing demand, and rising trade pressures. In today’s global context, energy efficiency is not only a matter of energy policy, but also of economic policy.The report analyses historical progress in industrial energy efficiency and its role in enhancing industrial competitiveness. It includes comparisons of firm-level energy efficiency, identifying performance gaps and opportunities for further improvement. Drawing…
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Gas Market Report, Q2-2025
Global natural gas demand continued to expand through the 2024/25 heating season, with growth primarily driven by Europe and North America. Underground storage facilities and reserve mechanisms provided crucial flexibility to the gas system and ensured stable and secure gas supplies over the 2024/25 heating season. In 2025, global gas demand growth is forecast to slow from the previous year amid tighter market conditions, while heightened macroeconomic uncertainties may also weigh on demand.Low gas storage levels and reduced piped gas exports from Russia to the European Union are expected to keep market fundamentals tight. Supported by higher…
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Coal Mid-Year Update 2025
…affordability and sustainability, especially as coal remains the single largest contributor to energy-related carbon dioxide emissions. While the large majority of the world’s coal use is concentrated in Asia, particularly China, consumption in Europe and North America remains considerable. Coal’s influence therefore remains global in both energy and climate discussions.The International Energy Agency’s 2025 Coal Mid-Year Update reviews the latest trends in coal demand, production, trade and prices. It includes preliminary data for the first half of 2025 and provides updated forecasts for 2025 and 2026, grounded in recent market developments and economic conditions.
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Integrating Distributed Energy Resources in China
Lessons from international experience Like no other country in the world, the People’s Republic of China (hereafter, “China”) is witnessing rapid growth in distributed energy resources (DERs), including rooftop solar photovoltaics, battery storage and electric vehicle (EV) chargers. As China advances towards its carbon peaking and neutrality goals, these resources offer a unique opportunity to support a more flexible, efficient and resilient power system, provided their integration is well-managed.This report analyses recent trends in DER deployment across China and highlights the emerging challenges their growth poses for power system planning and operation, calling for renewed attention to…
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World Energy Investment 2025
This year’s World Energy Investment report, marks the 10th edition of this flagship analysis and provides a full update on the investment picture in 2024 and an initial reading of the emerging picture for 2025.The report provides a global benchmark for tracking capital flows in the energy sector and examines how investors are assessing risks and opportunities across all areas of fuel and electricity supply, critical minerals, efficiency, research and development and energy finance.The report highlights several key aspects of the current investment landscape in the context of recent policy and macroeconomic developments and a heightened focus…
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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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The Value of Demand Flexibility
…strong emphasis on its role in improving energy efficiency. As electricity demand grows and power systems become more electrified, decentralised and renewable-rich, managing when and how electricity is used is increasingly as important as expanding supply.The brief sets out a clear framework for understanding demand flexibility and highlights its contribution to an efficiency-first approach to power 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…
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Scaling Up Transition Finance
Scaling Up
Transition
Finance Actions by emissions-intensive sectors, companies and countries are crucial to placing the world on a sustainable pathway. Yet investments that could deliver meaningful reductions in their environmental footprint often do not receive sufficient financial support. Currently, finance is drawn heavily to certain “green” assets and activities. While vital, these investments alone cannot deliver all the changes needed 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…
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Demand and Supply Measures for the Steel and Cement Transition
The case for international co-ordination A massive scale-up of markets for transformative near-zero emissions steel and cement is needed to achieve internationally agreed net zero goals. Yet early movers on both the supply- and demand-side – that is, material producers and consumers – face substantial barriers related to high costs and risks, among other factors. This has led to relatively slow market growth for near-zero emissions materials, at a moment when reinvesting in long-lived high-emissions production could have repercussions for governments to achieve their stated climate goals. Policy makers have the opportunity to play a…
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Land-Use Competition between Biodiversity and Net Zero Goals
…for land use. To ensure that the tripling of renewable energy capacity by 2030 aligns with the goal of protecting 30% of the planet’s land and water by the same date, robust mechanisms that direct solar and wind projects away from the world’s most biodiverse areas are needed. To address the potential impacts of renewable development on biodiversity, the IEA developed the Renewable Energy and Land-Use Model (REALM), which identifies areas of overlap between renewable projects, critical mineral mining, and conservation priorities. Using Canada as a case study, this report highlights areas of potential land-use conflict…
