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Critical Minerals
Critical minerals are essential for a range of today’s energy technologies and for the broader economy. For example, lithium, nickel, cobalt, manganese and graphite are crucial to battery performance. Rare earth elements are essential indispensable to the permanent magnets used in wind turbines and electric vehicle motors. Electricity networks need a huge amount of aluminium and copper, the latter of which is the cornerstone of all electricity-related technologies. As demand for these materials grows strongly, their strategic importance has also increased – and policymakers have made ensuring secure and resilient mineral supply chains a major priority. Critical Minerals Security…
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Energy Innovation
…analyses on energy innovation also provide crucial insights that equip the huge range of stakeholders in this space to make effective decisions and pursue ambitious goals – from academics and researchers to start-ups, established companies, investors, philanthropic organisations, policymakers and regulatory bodies.Our annual State of Energy Innovation report also provides a comprehensive, data-driven assessment of recent progress and emerging challenges in energy technology innovation. The IEA Technology Collaboration Programmes (TCP) are independent, international groups of experts that enable governments and industries from around the world to lead programmes and projects on a wide range of energy technologies and…
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Energy and Water
…as well as climate change. This has significant implications for ensuring both energy and water security. Energy's water problem Energy demand for water desalination is poised to double to 2030 Almost all of the world’s water demand is met by groundwater and surface water. However, water stress has led to an increase in the use of non-traditional resources, such as saltwater. This requires desalination, the process of separating saline water (seawater or brackish water) into freshwater and concentrated salt. Global energy demand for desalination has nearly doubled since 2010, and current trends point to another doubling to…
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Fossil Fuel Subsidies
…coal, these are based on the import parity price: the price of a product at the nearest international hub, adjusted for quality differences, if necessary, plus the cost of freight and insurance to the net importer, plus the cost of internal distribution and marketing and any value-added tax (VAT). VAT was added to the reference price where the tax is levied on final energy sales, as a proxy for the tax on economic activities levied across an economy. Other taxes, including excise duties, are not included in the reference price.For net exporters of oil, natural gas and coal…
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Saving Energy
…room you’re in.2. Boiler: adjust the settingsDefault boiler settings are often higher than you need. Lower the hot water temperature to save 8% of your heating energy and cut EUR 100 off an average bill. You may have to have the plumber come once if you have a complex modern combi boiler and can’t figure out the manual. Make sure you follow local recommendations or consult your boiler manual. Swap a bath for a shower to spend less energy heating water. And if you already use a shower, take a shorter one. Hot water tanks and…