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Energy and AI AI for energy optimisation and innovation
AI can help optimise complex energy systems The energy system is complex and evolving. It is becoming increasingly electrified, digitalised, connected and decentralised, with mounting cost pressures. These drivers have encouraged energy companies to deploy applications that utilise artificial intelligence to optimise systems, improve production, reduce costs, raise efficiency, improve uptime, cut emissions and enhance safety. Many of the desired goals of AI’s application in the energy sector – such as cost reductions, enhanced reliability and improved resilience – are challenging to quantify at a broader sectoral level, beyond the confines of individual case studies. It is also challenging to predict…
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Claire Hilton
Former Energy Partnerships Analyst.
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Energy and AI AI and climate change
The emergence of AI has both raised concerns that AI-fuelled data centre growth might fuel climate change and also raised expectations that AI applications in the energy sector could help reduce emissions by unlocking new optimisations and efficiencies. As over 100 countries – and the European Union – have targets to reach net zero emissions between 2030 and 2070, it is pertinent to explore what AI’s impact on emissions could potentially be. Global fuel combustion CO2 emissions are estimated to reach 35 000 million tonnes (Mt) in 2024. Data centres account for around 180 Mt of indirect CO2 emissions today from the consumption…
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Toril Bosoni
Head of Oil Industry and Markets Division.
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Leo Varadkar
Prime Minister. Leo Varadkar became Prime Minister of Ireland in June 2017. He has been a member of Ireland’s parliament, the Dáil, since 2007 and previously held several ministerial positions, including Social Protection, Health, and Transport, Tourism and Sport.Mr Varadkar recently led the Irish Government in the development of an ambitious new Climate Action Plan with strong targets for energy efficiency, renewables and emissions reduction.
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Armin Mayer
Former Energy Analyst.
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Davis Chirchir
Minister of Energy and Petroleum.
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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…
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Mary Robinson
Chair.
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Global Energy and Climate Model Announced Pledges Scenario (APS)
The 2025 edition of the World Energy Outlook (WEO) does not include the Announced Pledges Scenario. Our assessment of the new round of NDCs due this year, generally the period to 2035, will follow once there is a more complete picture of these pledges.The Announced Pledges Scenario (APS), introduced in 2021, illustrates the extent to which announced ambitions and targets can deliver the emissions reductions needed to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. In the WEO-2024, the APS includes all recent major national announcements as of the end of August 2024, both 2030 targets and longer-term net zero…
