What are the sources of investment and sources of finance in the energy sector? Cecilia Tam, Paul Grimal, Jeanne-Marie Hays and Haneul Kim at the IEA summarise insights extracted from the IEA’s latest flagship World Energy Investment report which this year has dug much deeper into the subject. They look at the capital structure (debt versus equity) of energy investments in assets and companies. They look at the entities making the investments, … [Read more...]
At $2tn, investment in Clean Energy in 2024 is set to be double that for Fossil Fuels
A new report by the IEA reveals that global spending on clean energy technologies and infrastructure is on track to hit $2tn in 2024, driven largely by attractive cost reductions, improving supply chains, energy security, and government policies. This is despite higher financing costs for new projects. The combined investment in renewable power and grids only recently overtook the amount spent on fossil fuels, in 2023. 2024 will see it at double … [Read more...]
A global review of Battery Storage: the fastest growing clean energy technology today
The IEA report “Batteries and Secure Energy Transitions” looks at the impressive global progress, future projections, and risks for batteries across all applications. 2023 saw deployment in the power sector more than double. Strong growth occurred for utility-scale batteries, behind-the-meter, mini-grids, solar home systems, and EVs. Lithium-ion batteries dominate overwhelmingly due to continued cost reductions and performance improvements. And … [Read more...]
Half of fossil fuel Methane reduction targets can be met at no net cost. Why isn’t it happening?
We need to cut global methane emissions from fossil fuels by 75% by 2030 to be on target to limit warming to 1.5°C. That equates to 90 Mt of the current total of 120 Mt of annual fossil fuel methane emissions. The IEA says 80 Mt can be avoided through the deployment of known and existing technologies, often at low – or even negative – cost. And the 75% cut needs $170bn in spending to 2030, a very achievable sum given it represents less than 5% of … [Read more...]
Massive global expansion of Renewables coming. But we’re still short 20% of our 2030 target
The IEA has released the 143-page “Renewables 2023”, the latest edition of its annual report on the sector. The world added 50% more renewable capacity in 2023 than in 2022 and the next 5 years will see fastest growth yet. Under current policies and market conditions, global renewable capacity is already on course to increase by two-and-a-half times by 2030: great news but still short of the tripling we need. A key reason for the gap is the lack … [Read more...]
Nearly 2,000 Hydrogen projects worldwide: IEA’s interactive tools give snapshot on progress, costs
The IEA has released new interactive data tools to track the development of low-emissions hydrogen production around the world. They provide a snapshot of progress on hydrogen production, with data on almost 2,000 projects that are either already in operation or have been announced. Most projects to date are concentrated in Europe and Australia, with a growing number planned in Africa, China, India, Latin America and the U.S. One of the tools … [Read more...]
Clean energy is driving job growth, but skills shortages are a major barrier
The second edition of the IEA’s annual World Energy Employment report measures energy sector employment by region, fuel, technology, and value chain. Globally, energy employment rose to 67m people in 2022. Over half of employment growth since before the pandemic was in just five sectors: solar, wind, EVs, batteries, heat pumps, and critical minerals mining. In fact, clean energy jobs overtook fossil fuels in 2021. But skilled labour shortages are … [Read more...]
New Solar study: 50% of global power by 2050, even without more ambitious climate policies
Nadia Ameli at UCL and Femke Nijsse and Jean-Francois Mercure at the University of Exeter present their study that shows solar is on track to make up more than half of global electricity generation by 2050, even without more ambitious climate policies. This far exceeds any previous estimates: last year’s IEA World Energy Outlook predicted that solar would account for only 25% by 2050. The authors’ macroeconomic model takes the latest … [Read more...]
Nations are on track to meet their NDC targets. The catch is those targets aren’t high enough for net zero by 2050
Globally, current Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) targets are within reach thanks to the increasing speed of clean energy transitions around the world. That’s as NDCs have, as planned, got more ambitious as nations have updated them every five years. The problem is current NDCs are still not ambitious enough to meet our actual 2050 net zero target. Daniel Wetzel, Gabriel Saive, Luca Lo Re and Alice Latella at the IEA summarise the … [Read more...]
Annual Energy Efficiency improvements must double to meet climate targets. We know how to do it
Global energy intensity – a measure of how efficiently the global economy uses energy – improved by just over 2% in 2022. That needs to double to 4% annually to 2030 to meet global efficiency targets, explains Brian Motherway at the IEA. If achieved, by 2030 one unit of energy used will generate 40% more economic output than today. That’s huge, and shows why few other policy areas offer such widespread benefits. More than half of the 150 … [Read more...]
1,500GW of Renewables deployment delayed globally because Grids aren’t modernising fast enough
A first-of-its-kind global country-by-country study, “Electricity Grids and Secure Energy Transitions” by the IEA finds that electricity grids are not keeping pace with the rapid growth of clean energy technologies. Without greater policy attention and investment, shortfalls in the reach and quality of grid infrastructure puts at risk our climate goals. Worldwide, we need to add or replace 80m kms of power lines by 2040 – an amount equal to the … [Read more...]
Carbon Capture rates of 60% sound impressive. But rising carbon prices could still make you commercially unviable
Mainstream scenarios state the unavoidable need for continued use of fossils through to 2050. For the world to stay within its carbon budget, that means the unavoidable need for carbon capture and plugging “fugitive” leaks. Chris Bataille at the Center on Global Energy Policy flags up the danger that new CCS projects with seemingly impressive capture rates of up to 60% may nevertheless become commercially unviable as carbon prices rise: that … [Read more...]
Clean Energy Innovation: investment continued to rise despite a turbulent 2022
In a turbulent year, financially and geopolitically, investment in energy innovation still rose. Public spending on energy R&D grew by 10% in 2022 (estimated at $44bn), with 80% devoted to clean energy. Listed energy-related companies saw a similar rise. And early-stage venture capital investment reached a new high of $6.7bn. But risks remain, explains Simon Bennett at the IEA who summarises the innovation chapter in their latest “World … [Read more...]
IEA report: global manufacturing capacity is expanding rapidly for solar, wind, batteries, electrolysers, heat pumps
The IEA summarises its special briefing, “The State of Clean Technology Manufacturing.” It’s a global update on recent progress in key regions, focussing on five technologies – solar PV, wind, batteries, electrolysers and heat pumps – critical to the energy transition. It should be read to keep decision makers informed of investment trends and the impact of industrial strategies. Overall, manufacturing capacity for these technologies is expanding … [Read more...]
Oil & Gas can meet 2030 net-zero target for only $600bn, quickly recouped. But it’s still not happening, warns IEA
The IEA summarises its 33-page report “Emissions from Oil and Gas Operations in Net Zero Transitions”. The IEA says the oil and gas sector needs ÂŁ600bn up front to meet its 2030 target of a 60% reduction in emissions. That’s only 15% of the sector’s record 2022 energy-crisis windfall income. A small price increase and savings should recoup that money “quickly”, says the IEA. The IEA not only maps a way to limit the global average temperature rise … [Read more...]
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