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Global Energy Review 2026 Electricity demand
Electricity demand grew more than twice as fast as overall energy demand Global electricity demand grew year-on-year by around 3% in 2025, easing from 4.4% in 2024, when intense heat waves boosted electricity consumption. Nevertheless, the 2025 growth rate remained above the 2.8% annual average observed between 2014 and 2024 and was also well over twice the rate of overall global energy demand growth in 2025 (1.3%). Demand growth was well above long-term average rates in advanced economies, but slowed in Asian economies In 2025, emerging market and developing economies accounted for 80% of…
- Key findings
- Global trends
- Oil
- Natural gas
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+ 9 pages
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Outlook for Biogas and Biomethane Biogas and biomethane outlook to 2050
The landscape for biogases is very different now compared to our last Outlook in 2020, with total demand 32% higher in 2040 in the STEPS than in the New Policies Scenario at the time. Whereas natural gas prices in 2020 were at record lows, the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 triggered interest in developing biomethane to substitute imported natural gas. The revised figure is driven in part by strengthened policy incentives, notably in Europe and China. There is a strong continued use case for biogases in the Outlook scenarios. Electricity's share in total final consumption increases from 20…
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Ukraine’s Energy Security A pre-winter assessment
Ukraine’s energy sector continues to be a major target of Russian missile and drone attacks As Ukraine enters its fourth winter of the war, energy infrastructure continues to be targeted by Russian attacks. Ukraine’s natural gas and power infrastructure remain vulnerable, with an increasing number of missiles and drones striking critical plants and pipelines. At the same time, evolving tactics and technologies are present a persistent challenge for Ukraine’s air and passive defences.Energy security is central to Ukraine’s overall security. Ensuring that Ukrainian citizens retain access to heat and power is of the utmost importance…
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Unlocking Ukraine’s Hydrogen Opportunity: A Roadmap Taking stock of the effect of war
Highlights The assets of many hydrogen users have been destroyed since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, causing demand to plunge by 80%. Ukraine’s only operational refinery was severely damaged in 2022. Steel output has dropped by nearly two-thirds due to damage, occupation, logistical costs and electricity scarcity. Nevertheless, there is potential for future hydrogen demand in export-oriented sectors; prior to Russia’s invasion, 40% of Ukraine’s fertiliser output, 46% of its agricultural output and 67% of steel were exported.Power generation capacity has plummeted since Russia’s invasion. Nearly 80% of…
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Outlook for Biogas and Biomethane Key issues affecting biogas and biomethane projects
Development of feedstocks Differences in policy implementation and feedstock availability has resulted in feedstock mixes that vary widely by country and region: In Europe, biogas production was initially supported by feed-in tariffs and relied on energy crops as an important feedstock. Given the land use and biodiversity concerns associated with energy crops, this landscape has since changed, with several European countries implementing restrictions on their usage. The feedstock mix in Europe is now moving towards a mix of agricultural residues, animal manure, organic municipal solid waste and industrial waste. In China, household and farm biodigesters were central to biogas…
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Renewables for Industry Executive summary
Electrification of heat can improve efficiency, help diversify industrial energy, and enhance energy security A broad range of industries that depend primarily on low-temperature heat and steam processes represent roughly 70% of global industrial energy consumption. They span diverse manufacturing activities – from food and beverages to textiles, chemicals, transport equipment, wood products and paper. In 2023, these sectors emitted nearly 3 Gt of direct energy-related CO₂, accounting for half of all direct industrial emissions, although emissions have declined by around 8% since 2013.Industrial energy use is largely in the form of heat and is increasingly being supplied…
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Global Energy Review 2026 Key findings
All major energy fuels and technologies grew in 2025 – but at very different rates. Overall global energy demand growth slowed to 1.3%, just below the average for the previous decade. Slower economic growth and slower growth in energy-intensive industries in some regions, lower cooling demand, and faster efficiency improvements all contributed to slower demand growth.Solar PV, the largest single source of growth, met more than 25% of higher demand, followed by natural gas, which contributed 17%. This was the first time on record that a modern renewable source contributed the largest share of global energy demand growth…
- Key findings
- Global trends
- Oil
- Natural gas
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+ 9 pages
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Energy System Resilience Executive summary
Ensuring the resilience of energy systems – or their capacity to prepare for disruptions, withstand shocks while maintaining operations, and rapidly restore service – plays a key role in managing many of today’s emerging security risks, from weather disruptions to geopolitical tensions. Energy security encompasses both long-term adequacy through infrastructure investment and diverse supply sources, and short-term resilience for events beyond standard planning conditions. While countries face different threats – from extreme and severe weather to cyberattacks and infrastructure failures – a common challenge is to design adaptable systems that can respond rapidly, isolate affected components, and restore supply services swiftly…
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What Next for the Global Car Industry The importance of the growth in EV sales for the car industry
Highlights In 2024, more than one-fifth of all cars sold globally were electric. Policies remain key to growth in many regions, although falling prices make affordability an increasingly important driver. In China, two-thirds of battery electric cars sold in 2024 were cheaper than internal combustion engine (ICE) equivalents. In other major markets like Europe and North America, electric cars remain more expensive on average. But prices have been falling in many emerging economies on the back of affordable Chinese imports; in Southeast Asia, this helped push the share of electric car sales to 9% in 2024, almost double…
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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…
