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Artificial Intelligence
…by both businesses and individuals. Though significant uncertainties remain, AI has the potential to transform the energy sector in the coming decade. It is set to drive a surge in electricity demand from data centres around the world while also unlocking significant opportunities to cut costs, enhance competitiveness and reduce emissions.To better understand the growing connections between energy and AI, the IEA launched a major new initiative in 2024: Energy for AI, and AI for Energy. As part of this work, the IEA organised the Global Conference on Energy and AI, a first-of-its-kind platform for dialogue…
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COP28: Tracking the Energy Outcomes
…tripling global renewable energy capacity and doubling global energy efficiency improvements by 2030, and deploying emerging technologies, such as low-emissions hydrogen and carbon capture.The IEA, in collaboration with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Secretariat, is tracking progress towards the energy objectives established at COP28. This forms part of our broader work, at the request of governments, to support the full and timely implementation of the energy promises made in Dubai by identifying pathways forward and providing policy makers with advice on accelerating national and secure clean energy transitions. The IEA's landmark 2024 report…
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Investment
…the amount going to fossil fuels Key findings Global energy investment set to hit record in 2025 despite headwinds Total energy investment worldwide is poised to grow by 2% in 2025 to $3.3 trillion, reaching an all-time high despite elevated geopolitical tensions and economic uncertainty. Around two-thirds of all energy investment, or $2.2 trillion, is destined for clean energy technologies such as renewable energy, grids, battery storage and electric vehicles. Meanwhile, investment in fossil fuels is expected to marginally contract to $1.1 trillion amid downward pressure on prices and pared-back expectations for oil demand…
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Net Zero Emissions
An increasing number of countries have been making pledges to reduce their emissions to net zero in the coming decades. To inform these efforts, the IEA released a first-of-its-kind Net Zero Roadmap in 2021, outlining what would be required within the energy sector to achieve this goal at the global level by mid-century. An update to the Roadmap, which has served as an essential benchmark for policy makers, industry, the financial sector and civil society, was published in 2023.The Roadmap is based on the IEA’s Net Zero Emissions (NZE) Scenario, which portrays a pathway for the…
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Energy and Water
…and current trends point to another doubling to 2030. Some 21,000 desalination plants currently operate in about 150 countries, from the United States and China to Sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia – though half of global installed capacity is located in the Middle East and North Africa. Renewables can help ease the energy sector's water problem In a scenario in which global energy sector emissions reach net zero by 2050, water withdrawals by the energy sector decline by almost 20 bcm by 2030. The biggest reductions happen in the power sector, where withdrawals fall nearly 15% as coal…
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Russia's War on Ukraine
…their energy security. At the same time, cleaner alternatives to fossil fuels are growing faster than ever. Due in part to policies unveiled by governments after February 2022, the world’s capacity to produce renewable power is expanding at a remarkable place , while the popularity of clean technologies such as electric vehicles and heat pumps is surging. The biggest legacy of the global energy crisis triggered by Russia's invasion of Ukraine may be that it accelerates the end of the fossil fuel era - with IEA projections now showing that under today's policy settings, demand for oil, gas and coal…
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Critical Minerals
…refining and processing. For copper, lithium, nickel, cobalt, graphite and rare earth elements, the average market share of the top three refining nations rose to 86% in 2024 from around 82% in 2020, with almost all supply growth coming from the single top supplier: Indonesia for nickel, and China for all others.
While policy makers have woken up to the challenges, based on today’s policy settings and investment trends, the average share of the top three suppliers is projected to decline only marginally over the next decade, effectively returning to the concentration levels seen in 2020. Despite narrowing supply… -
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Access and Affordability
“An Affordable and Sustainable Energy System for Sub-Saharan Africa” (Energy Sub-Saharan Africa) is a five-year programme (2019-2024) funded by the European Union. It supports work with Benin, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Uganda and Zambia, with the aim of promoting sustainable and inclusive economic growth through the transition towards a low-carbon and climate-resilient energy sector, while delivering universal and affordable energy access to all. Today, 730 million people around the world live without access to electricity, while over 2 billion people continue to rely on harmful cooking fuels…
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Climate Change
…PV and batteries – has kept the door to 1.5 °C open. Yet meeting this target would require much faster progress on a much larger scale, IEA analysis shows – with even greater international co-operation and ambition from policy makers, as well as the swift and full implementation of the energy commitments made at the COP28 climate summit in Dubai. These include the global 2030 pledges to triple renewable power capacity, double energy efficiency progress, substantially reduce methane emissions, and accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels. Clean energy growth is keeping the path to limiting global warming to 1…
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Energy and Gender
…workers. Women’s representation is much higher in certain roles, such as scientific research (45%) and the manufacturing of electrical equipment (27%). The share of women in senior leadership is growing but lags the economy-wide average The share of women in senior leadership positions has been rising faster than the economy-wide average since 2015. Renewables and nuclear have seen particularly strong progress, while there have only been marginal gains in oil and gas supply, and coal witnessed declines. Women’s share of leadership roles in the energy sector now stands at 18% – up from 13% in 2015, but…