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Renewables for Industry Executive summary
…heat electrification. This linkage between industrial electricity demand and growing renewable generation is becoming an important driver of decarbonisation across industrial sectors. It contributes to greater system flexibility, strengthens energy security by reducing dependence on fossil fuel imports, and fosters economic growth, industrialisation and employment. Low-temperature industrial heat and steam are ready for electrification, but market conditions are not yet in place Improving energy efficiency is the foundational step in preparing for the electrification of low-temperature heat and steam. Energy efficiency measures lower overall heat demand, reduce losses and thereby enable smaller, more cost-effective electrification solutions. In…
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State of Energy Policy 2026 Government energy spending
…energy has doubled compared with 2019 levels, reaching around 1.4% of total direct government expenditure in 2025. Levels have varied by country, with some reaching up to 5% of general expenditure. Although spending fell from its peak in 2023, disbursements in 2024 and 2025 remained significantly higher than in the 2010s, reaching respectively around USD 370 billion and USD 405 billion. Other economic sectors saw more modest growth: spending on areas such as health and social protection rose broadly in line with general total expenditure, by around 1.4 times over the same period, compared with more than doubling for energy…
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World Energy Outlook 2025 Net Zero Emissions by 2050
…CO2 from the atmosphere is unavoidable to return warming to below 1.5 °C. Such technologies are expensive and unproven at scale: immediate action to reduce emissions can limit the scale of the removals needed. In the NZE Scenario, the global average temperature increase falls back below 1.5 °C by 2100. Energy investment in the NZE Scenario increases to around USD 4.8 trillion per year over the next decade, from USD 3.3 trillion today. As these upfront investments are made, savings from lower fuel prices together with efficiency gains mean that households face costs for energy services comparable to those of today…
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Unlocking Ukraine’s Hydrogen Opportunity: A Roadmap Executive summary
…have left their mark on the energy sector. In the power sector, nearly 80% of the thermal generation and about two-thirds of the hydropower capacity have been damaged or destroyed, leading to a power deficit equal to about one-third of peak demand. Hydrogen demand was nearly 1 Mtpa before the war, predominantly for ammonia production, with only about 40 ktpa from refining. However, assets have since been damaged or occupied and demand has plunged by almost 80%. Steel output, which represents a potential new application for hydrogen, has dropped by almost two-thirds.Massive capital mobilisation is needed for reconstruction…
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Energy Security
…record high in 2023, and while dependence on oil is set to lessen in many parts of the world in the coming decades as clean energy transitions advance, the threat posed by oil supply disruptions will not disappear anytime soon.Even once global demand starts to decline structurally, oil will remain an important part of the energy mix for some time. There is also good reason to believe that oil supply disruptions are even more likely to occur in the coming decades than they are today. This is due to an elevated risk of supply-demand imbalances, increasing supply concentration…
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Global Critical Minerals Outlook 2025 Overview of outlook for key minerals
…rapidly, capital requirements are about 15% higher at USD 600 billion over the same period (excluding sustained capital expenditure). These amounts reflect not only the scale of demand growth, but also the increasing capital intensity for new projects, driven by declining ore quality, particularly in more mature markets such as copper. Expected supply from announced projects suggests improving supply-demand balances, with major exceptions for copper and lithium Based on the project pipeline in the base case, overall supplies of some key energy minerals are on track to meet projected demand under today’s policy settings in the STEPS. Copper…
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An Energy Sector Roadmap to Net Zero Emissions in Colombia
World Energy Outlook Special Report Colombia has set an ambitious goal to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The third-largest country in Latin America and the Caribbean by population, it has seen stable economic and population growth over past decades. A large part of its energy mix is made up of fossil fuels, largely oil, while hydropower provides most electricity. Colombia has abundant untapped solar and wind resources and a strong base of clean energy potential.At the request of the Government of Colombia, the IEA has developed a roadmap to net zero by 2050 for the…
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Energy and AI AI for energy optimisation and innovation
…these AI-led interventions are overcome. But it stops short of considering the full theoretical potential of AI-led interventions, as it factors in certain insurmountable structural issues that would block their complete adoption. For example, we consider variations in adoption by region by factoring in the availability of enabling digital infrastructure. AI applications for optimising energy systems Oil and gas companies have been among the earliest adopters of new technologies to boost exploration and production. In 2000, 11 supercomputers operated by oil and gas companies ranked among the world’s 500 fastest. By 2024, this number had increased to…
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The Value of Demand Flexibility Executive summary
…on fossil fuels during peak periods, demand flexibility can lower the carbon intensity of the power system by shifting consumption away from peak hours, when emissions are generally higher, sometimes by as much as 70% compared to off-peak times.These benefits are increasingly important as energy systems evolve. Three trends are driving the need for increased demand flexibility:Rising electricity consumption and changing patterns are creating new peaks and straining power systems. Global electricity demand increased by more than 4% in 2024 and is set to continue rising as economies grow and sectors electrify. Peak demand is outpacing average…
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Global Methane Tracker 2025
…Tracker is an essential tool for raising awareness about methane emissions across the energy sector and the opportunities to bring them down.The Tracker presents our latest sector-wide emissions estimates – based on the most recent data from satellites and measurement campaigns – and discusses different abatement options along with their associated costs. This 2025 update adds several new elements, including: country-level historical emissions data; an interactive tool to explore international methane initiatives; and estimates of emissions from abandoned fossil fuel facilities. It also features a fully open-access model for exploring abatement options in the oil and gas sector…
