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Best Practices and Insights to Expand Clean Energy Access and Adoption
This report was commissioned by the European Commission to serve as a technical repository of analysis and evidence-based practices in support of the Campaign on Sustainable Lifestyles, Fairness and Access to Clean Energy Technologies. The analysis presented draws on discussions and research shared during the Widening Participation in Clean Energy workshop held in Brussels, contributions presented at the official all-member meetings of the Campaign on Sustainable Lifestyles, and the IEA’s analytical work in areas such as people-centred clean energy transitions, affordability, energy efficiency and clean energy access.This work is organised into three chapters, each corresponding…
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Building Envelopes
Stronger efficiency is the first and best policy to bring down energy bills
Variations in energy efficiency exist both within and among countries. For example, in some European countries with similar climates it can take twice as much energy to heat the same floor area or within one country the energy consumed between the most efficient and least efficient homes for a given size can vary by a factor of up to three.
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Competitiveness
…efficiency, firms also save one dollar or more from other benefits, from improved resource use to higher productivity Key analysis Energy intensity improvements have enabled industries to produce 19% more value added with the same amount of energy now, compared to the year 2000. In the European Union, manufacturing industries produce 50% more value added with 25% less energy than in 2000. A closer look at energy efficiency in businesses Energy management – a well-recognised strategic approach of adjusting and optimising energy consumption – is one of the key levers for industrial competitiveness. By embedding a culture of continuous improvement, firms…
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IEA Support to Accelerating Renewable Energy Permitting (ARPE)
…the European Commission released the REPowerEU aimed at rapidly accelerating the clean energy transition in the European Union. The plan includes increasing the 2030 target for renewable energy in the overall energy mix to 42.5% (with the ambition of 45%) – up from 40% in the 2021 proposal. Achieving this will require more than 1 200 gigawatts (GW) of installed cumulative renewable power capacity by 2030, almost double that of 2023.The key barrier to rapid renewables deployment in many EU Member states is lengthy and complex administrative procedures related to project permitting. In May 2022, the European Commission released recommendations on…
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Low-Emissions Fuels
Develop certification and standards to ensure that low-emissions fuels are sustainable
The development of standards and certification schemes ensuring a sustainable supply chain will be critical for scaling up the production of both biofuels and hydrogen, while avoiding potentially harmful environmental, economic and social impacts. The development of international markets and trade in these fuels will also depend on internationally agreed methods and certification processes to guarantee the sustainability of traded fuels.
Create support programmes for the use of low-emissions fuels
With the use of low-emissions fuels still in most cases being more expensive than unabated fossil…
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Hydrogen
Low-emissions hydrogen projects are set to grow strongly despite wave of cancellations and persistent challenges
Worldwide hydrogen demand increased to almost 100 million tonnes in 2024, up 2% from 2023 and in line with overall energy demand growth. The vast majority of this was met by hydrogen produced from fossil fuels without measures in place to capture associated emissions. Sectors that have traditionally used hydrogen, such as oil refining and industry, remained the biggest consumers.
The uptake of low-emissions hydrogen is not yet meeting the expectations set by industry and governments in recent years, especially in light of…
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Biofuels
Country and regional highlights
The United States Inflation Reduction Act makes USD 9.4 billion available for biofuels
Energy
Biofuel demand increased by 6% in 2022, continuing the recent pace of growth
Technology deployment
Biofuel production technology needs to diversify to sustainably take advantage of existing waste and residue feedstocks
Innovation
Technologies that can convert woody feedstocks into biofuels need to be proven at scale in the next few years
Supporting infrastructure
Policy
Investment
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Global EV Outlook 2025 Outlook for energy demand
Electricity demand Electric vehicles could account for more than 4% of European electricity demand by 2030 In 2024, the global fleet of EVs consumed around 180 TWh of electricity, almost 60% more than the previous year. To put this in perspective, 180 TWh is more than the annual electricity consumption of Argentina. At the global level, EVs represented about 0.7% of final electricity consumption in 2024.The stock of EVs is set to more than triple to 2030, but electricity demand could increase more than fourfold, reaching 780 TWh in the STEPS. This is driven by increasing consumption from electric trucks, as…
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Renewables 2025 Biogases
…2026, while the Netherlands is developing one. Ireland has set a national blending mandate for heating.Use in the transport sector continues to grow, especially where targets are based on fuels’ GHG performance, making biomethane more competitive, such as in Germany. On the other hand, creating a unified European market for trading green certificates remains a key demand. The new Union Database, expected to be operational for biogases in 2025, will facilitate the tracking of proof of sustainability (PoS) certificates required under the Renewable Energy Directive (RED).Germany, the world’s largest biogas and biomethane market, with a combined prod...
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Affordability
Multiple benefits of Energy Efficiency 2025 Energy efficiency provides multiple benefits. This page explores affordability. Why is energy efficiency important for affordability? Energy efficiency measures can reduce energy bills for households, decrease energy poverty, and make access to energy services more affordable. Key facts Energy efficiency measures can reduce average household energy bills in advanced economies by up to one-third. In emerging economies, they can also improve access to energy services. For many products, such as refrigerators, highly efficient models use less than half of the energy of inefficient models. A best-in-class model can save up to…
