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Designing an effective strategic stockpiling system for critical minerals
…materialised at scale The IEA has long warned of the potential security risks associated with the high concentration of critical mineral supply chains. In 2025, these risks became a reality, marking a major turning point for global economic security. The rare earths export controls announced by China in October 2025 posed major national and economic security risks across the world, with potentially severe impacts for a range of strategic sectors including energy, automotive, defence, aerospace, AI and semiconductors. Earlier export controls introduced in April had already resulted in some automotive factories around the world being forced to cut utilisation rates…
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The next wave of LED lighting: Smarter, circular and more efficient
…costs helping them dominate global markets. The efficiency gains have contributed to improved energy security, reduced energy bills and avoided higher emissions.Yet the global LED transformation is not over, and a second wave of deployment is now taking shape. Uptake remains uneven across regions, while demand for brighter spaces and illuminated infrastructure continues to rise around the world. Moreover, the first generation of already-installed LEDs is approaching end-of-life, creating an opportunity for the next phase of LED adoption – one that is focused on higher performance, longer lifetimes and smarter systems. Global LED adoption is moving at…
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India’s electricity demand grows at night: Managing rising cooling demand
…is emerging as a key electricity security issue – particularly at night, when electricity demand for cooling has been growing and the country’s solar PV capacity cannot contribute. The dual challenge of meeting electricity demand as populations, incomes and temperatures rise, while also ensuring the stability and resilience of grids, has been highlighted by conditions in recent days. Northwest and Central India have sweltered under an extreme heatwave since mid-May, with daytime maximum temperatures in the range of 40-47 °C and some locations recording temperatures as high as 48 °C. This has driven electricity demand to record highs…
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Investment in next-generation geothermal is surging. Policies are key to further growth
…systems place a growing premium on firm supply, geothermal energy’s ability to provide an around-the-clock, low-emissions source of power is attracting renewed attention. However, easy-to-access conventional geothermal resources are relatively rare and mostly confined to a small number of shallow geothermal hotspots globally, accounting for only about 1% of global electricity demand today.Next-generation geothermal technology developers are seeking to overcome these limits by drilling deeper and harnessing heat from hard-to-reach reservoirs. Operators can either circulate fluid through fractures that have been induced (through what is known as enhanced geothermal systems…
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Policy and financing momentum sustain CCUS progress despite setbacks
CCUS Projects Database 2026 commentary Efforts to expand carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) took some important steps forward in 2025. Despite delays and cancellations in some areas, projects reached notable milestones in key markets, while growing financing provided further momentum.CCUS deployment in Europe saw a step-change as the world’s first dedicated carbon dioxide CO2 storage hub began operating in Norway. Major projects were also commissioned in China and North America, and the construction of new facilities began in eight countries worldwide. The newest annual update to the IEA’s CCUS Project Database – which incorporates developments between…
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How global oil supplies have readjusted to help fill the huge gap left by the Strait of Hormuz shock
commentary Stock drawdowns, alternative routes and suppliers, and agile refiners have all contributed during the crisis, avoiding far more severe impacts on demand Global energy markets have been contending with their largest supply disruption in history resulting from the near closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital artery for oil and gas shipments to reach global markets. The cumulative oil supply losses from producers in the Middle East now exceed 1.3 billion barrels, with flows through the Strait of Hormuz falling from around 20 million barrels per day prior to the conflict to an average of 2.7…
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Energy crisis threatens world’s most vulnerable as cooking fuel shortages grow
…Previous energy crises affected economies and societies in profound ways, often forcing households to ration fuel for their cars and heating for their homes. The 2026 crisis is being felt across the globe – and households in emerging and developing economies are now facing a particularly severe challenge: whether there is enough fuel simply to cook a meal, and whether they can still afford it.At the centre of this sits liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), the world's most widely used cooking fuel. Around 3.4 billion people across the developing world use LPG as their primary source of energy for…
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Sodium-ion battery momentum grows, but challenges remain
…time of rising global demand for electric vehicles and energy storage. Developed in laboratories since the early 1980s, sodium-ion batteries operate on the same fundamental principles as lithium‑ion batteries – which currently dominate the market – yet their path to commercialisation has been markedly slower.While lithium-ion batteries entered commercial use in the 1990s – with the first electric vehicles appearing in Japan in 1996 – sodium-ion batteries reached vehicle applications much later, with the first sodium-ion powered electric car introduced in China only in late 2023. The first battery storage system using sodium-ion batteries was installed a few…
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Canada is set to play a leading role in supplying the world with responsibly produced critical minerals
…Ontario, Quebec and Saskatchewan account for about three-quarters of total exploration spending domestically and 85% of total capital expenditure. Large urban cities such as Toronto and Vancouver are also recognised as global hubs for mining and mineral exploration, financing and corporate services. The manufacturing of technologies that use critical minerals is gaining momentum, but challenges remain The IEA’s Review found that Canada also has the strong potential to grow its manufacturing base for renewable energy technologies, batteries and battery components, and other strategic applications, underpinned by its abundant low-emissions power and critical mineral resources. Since 2020, Canada…
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David Hodgson
Former Energy Analyst.
