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Sodium-ion battery momentum grows, but challenges remain
batteries commentary sodium batteries Recent technological advances and investment announcements suggest dynamics are shifting for sodium-ion batteries Sodium-ion batteries are emerging as a new player in battery markets, offering opportunities to diversify battery chemistries and supply chains at a 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…
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Global EV Outlook 2026 Manufacturing and trade
Manufacturing and trade of electric cars Global electric car output reached record levels in 2025 while European production rebounded Nearly 22 million electric cars were produced globally in 2025 – up more than 25% compared to the previous year. Of those, about one-quarter were traded between major production and demand centres. China remains the world’s largest hub for manufacturing and trade of electric cars, capturing nearly 75% and 40% of the respective global totals. Primarily led by domestic carmakers, China’s 2025 production of 16 million electric cars outstripped domestic demand by 20%, pushing Chinese electric car exports to double to…
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Gas Market Lessons from the 2022-2023 Energy Crisis Policy response to the crisis
As markets reeled from the drastic reduction in Russian pipeline gas supply to Europe and as global trade and demand patterns shifted, governments did not remain idle. Faced with the spectre of supply shortages, worsening current accounts, and inflation pressure linked to energy imports and rising energy prices for citizens and businesses alike, governments across the main LNG-importing regions rapidly implemented policy and market measures in response to the crisis. Europe The European Union and its member states adopted a number of measures to enhance security of supply and market resilience ahead of the 2022/23 heating season. However…
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State of Energy Policy 2026 Energy efficiency and fuel switching regulations
More than 130 countries have energy efficiency or fuel switching regulations in place, but some were revised, delayed or withdrawn in 2025 Energy use has become more efficient around the world since 2000. Global energy intensity has improved by around 30% over the past 25 years, meaning the world uses about 30% less energy per unit of economic output today than it did in 2000, with differentiated trends by key end uses: passenger cars and air conditioners have notably seen efficiency improvements for new sales of 30% and 45%, respectively since 2005. However, the pace of improvement has slowed over…
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Energy and AI Energy supply for AI
Global electricity supply to meet data centre demand Global electricity generation to supply data centres is projected to grow from 460 TWh in 2024 to over 1 000 TWh in 2030 and 1 300 TWh in 2035 in the Base Case. Over the next five years, renewables meet nearly half of the additional demand, followed by natural gas and coal, with nuclear starting to play an increasingly important role towards the end of this decade and beyond.Coal, with a share of about 30%, is the largest source of electricity, though this varies significantly by region, with the highest contribution found in China. Renewables – primarily wind…
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Energy Efficiency Policy Toolkit The Energy Efficiency Policy Package
The Energy Efficiency Policy Package
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World Energy Investment 2025 China
Record-breaking renewables investment in China continues, advancing in tandem with the expansion of grid and storage for renewables while keeping coal in the mix In the ten years since the signing of the Paris Agreement and five years since the announcement of the dual carbon goals, China has seen a precipitous rise in clean energy investment, particularly in renewables. In 2024 China’s clean energy investment was more than USD 625 billion, almost doubling since 2015. China also achieved its 2030 wind and solar capacity target in 2024, six years ahead of schedule. While renewable installations are set to continue, investment…
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Jose M Bermudez
Energy Technology Analyst. Jose M Bermudez is an Energy Technology Analyst at the International Energy Agency (IEA), where he coordinates the analytical work of the IEA in hydrogen technologies. He is also the coordinator of the Clean Energy Ministerial Hydrogen Initiative. Jose has more than 15 years of professional experience, working in research, innovation and energy policy in the areas of hydrogen, bioenergy and alternative fuels.
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Electricity Mid-Year Update 2025 Demand: Global electricity use to grow strongly in 2025 and 2026
Global electricity demand is forecast to increase by an average annual 3.3% in 2025 and by 3.7% in 2026, a moderation from 4.4% in 2024 but still some of the highest growth rates observed over the last decade. This is a slight downward revision from our previous forecast in February 2025 of 4% growth for this year and 3.8% in 2026. The change is partly due to the IMF's downgrade of the global GDP growth outlook compared with its January 2025 update amid elevated uncertainty surrounding trade tariffs and economic prospects. Despite these downside risks…
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Global Energy and Climate Model Macro drivers
Overview The Global Energy and Climate Model (GEC Model) uses macro drivers, techno-economic inputs and policies as input data to design and calculate the scenarios. The values for the different data categories and scenarios used in the GEC Model 2025 can be downloaded here.Economic activity and population are the two fundamental drivers of demand for energy services in GEC Model scenarios. Unless otherwise specified, these are kept constant across all scenarios as a means of providing a starting point for the analysis and facilitating the interpretation of the results. The projections are based on the average retail prices…
