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Gaining an Edge Summary for policymakers
Energy efficiency delivers more than energy savings and emission reductions – it can also improve the competitiveness of countries and firms. From increased profitability to job creation, energy efficiency helps firms compete amid high costs, growing demand, and rising trade pressures. In today’s global context, energy efficiency is not only a matter of energy policy, but also of economic policy.Today the world’s industries can produce nearly 20% more value for a given amount of energy than they could two decades ago. This progress has yielded significant benefits at the country level. G20 countries have doubled their economic output…
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Gaining an Edge Policy implications
An integrated policy package is key to deliver value to businesses and the economy Government intervention can help enhance industrial energy efficiency through effective policy packages. To create effective drivers and preconditions for increasing energy efficiency in the industry sector, policy packages combine three main mechanisms, regulation, information and incentives:Regulation is essential to exclude the worst performing equipment and practices from the market, driving greater energy efficiency at both firm and national level. Information improves firms’ awareness and knowledge of their energy efficiency options, highlighting benefits and enabling more efficient choices in energy-related purchases and use. Increased capacity…
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Energy and Gender
It comprises a number of senior officials from IEA Member countries, facilitating the exchange of best practices on gender equality and inclusion and gender mainstreaming across the energy sector. Women are vital energy consumers, producers and decision-makers who make a crucial contribution to global energy security and energy transitions. Building a more secure, fair and equitable energy future hinges on their active participation.Recognising this, the IEA’s Member countries have asked the Agency to focus on key issues at the nexus of energy and gender, from improving gender data collection to expanding analysis of the gender dimensions of…
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Gas 2025 Executive summary
The coming LNG wave is set to profoundly transform the global gas market Following the supply shock of 2022/23, natural gas markets moved towards a gradual rebalancing in 2024 and 2025. During this period, supply fundamentals remained tight and prices stayed well above their historic levels. This limited demand growth, especially in price-sensitive Asian markets.Around 300 billion cubic metres per year of new liquefied natural gas (LNG) export capacity is expected to be added worldwide by 2030, primarily supported by liquefaction capacity expansions in the United States and Qatar. This wave of new LNG production capacity is…
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Unlocking Ukraine’s Hydrogen Opportunity: A Roadmap Unlocking the opportunity - A roadmap for action
Highlights Hydrogen represents a long-term opportunity for Ukraine, but action is required in the near term to unlock the full benefits. Work over the first 2-3 years after the war ends can lay the foundations for future market growth without large commitments, such as through studies, planning for regulation and de-risking. In a second stage (5 years) pilot projects would be built to develop experience in the private sector and inform policy. A final stage (10-20 years) would incorporate lessons learnt, with a focus on standardisation, replication and simplification to support large-scale deployment. Each stage…
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Multiple Benefits of Energy Efficiency for Business Health and well-being
Energy efficiency can improve working conditions, increase employee productivity and reduce sick leave Energy efficiency improvements can enhance working environments and worker health. By reducing waste heat, air pollutants and other process inefficiencies, they lower health and safety risks while improving comfort and working conditions.In manufacturing, these effects can be direct. For example, in electronics manufacturing, conventional soldering requires thermal pre-heating cycles that exposes workers to high ambient heat as well as safety risks. Replacing this with induction heating enables localised heating of the material, reducing energy demand by around 70% while eliminating heat stress and safety hazards…
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Outlook for Biogas and Biomethane Introduction to biogas and biomethane
Biogas is a mixture of methane, CO2 and small quantities of other gases produced by anaerobic digestion of organic matter in an oxygen-free environment. Its precise composition depends on the type of feedstock and the production pathway. The methane content of biogas typically ranges from 45% to 75% by volume. Biogas is usually produced using the following technologies: Biodigesters: These are airtight systems (e.g. containers or tanks) in which organic material is broken down by naturally occurring micro-organisms. Contaminants and moisture are usually removed before use of the biogas. Landfill gas recovery systems: The decomposition of municipal…
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Energy Efficiency Policy Toolkit Industry
Introduction Industry accounts for 37% of final energy consumption globally. Doubling global energy intensity improvement by 2030 would require the decoupling of production from energy demand and raising the share of electricity in energy use from 23% in 2022 to 30% in 2030. An integrated policy approach combining regulation, information and incentives is the most effective way to achieve this goal.Regulations such as minimum energy performance standards for motors increase the efficiency of industrial processes by requiring new motors to use less energy per unit of output. This also drives the innovation of more efficient technologies. The alignment of international…
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Global Critical Minerals Outlook 2025 Overview of outlook for key minerals
Demand for critical minerals continues to rise across all scenarios, driven by the rapid deployment of energy technologies Demand for key energy minerals is set to grow rapidly across all scenarios, with the largest source of growth coming from the energy sector. In the Stated Policies Scenario (STEPS), lithium grows fivefold from today to 2040, while graphite and nickel demand double. Demand for cobalt and rare earth elements also grows strongly, increasing 50-60% by 2040. Copper is the material with the largest established market, and its demand is projected to grow by 30% over the same period. Battery deployment…
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Global Methane Tracker 2026 Understanding methane emissions
Atmospheric methane concentrations continue to rise Methane (CH4) is the second-most harmful greenhouse gas after carbon dioxide (CO2), trapping outgoing heat and warming the atmosphere through a process known as radiative forcing. Though it lingers in the atmosphere for far less time (12 years, compared with centuries for CO2), methane absorbs substantially more energy while it does. Cutting methane emissions therefore promises significant near-term climate benefits. Methane carries other hazards, too: it contributes to the formation of ground-level (tropospheric) ozone, a harmful pollutant, and methane leaks can also pose explosion risks.Atmospheric methane concentrations today are 2…
