International Energy Agency publishes the most authoritative global sources of energy analysis and predictions in their World Energy Outlook report every year. It deals with the trends in energy demand and supply as well as its impact on energy security, emissions, and economic growth.
This year Outlook deals with the energy security issues that decision-makers face in times of heightened geopolitical tensions in the world as well as in the Middle East. In the context of increased investment in cleaner technologies and rapid growth in electricity demand, WEO analyses what progress it has achieved and what more to be done to achieve the goal.
Let us know more about the IEA World Energy Outlook:
IEA World Energy Outlook: Executive Summary
The major risks for energy security and the effort to reduce emissions is due to the geopolitical reasons and fragmentation. Escalation of tension in the Middle East and the Ukraine-Russia war impacted the continued energy security risks that the world faces. Energy security issues should be dealt with more comprehensively so that it should cover the transformation of the Energy sector to cleaner energy supply chains.
The energy system transformation from traditional energy to clean energy is happening at an unprecedented rate. In 2023 alone 560 gigawatts of capacity is added. If the current trend continues by the end of this decade the growth of the global economy can become unaffected by the amount of oil, coal, and natural gas. The increasing clean energy manufacturing capacity helps the transition to become faster and in alignment with national goals.
IEA World Energy Outlook: Key findings
Here are some of the key factors of the IEA World Energy Outlook:
- There are three themes for this year’s outlook they are,
- Energy Security
- Prospects for clean energy transitions
- Uncertainty
- The chance of disruption of oil and gas supply is high due to Middle East conflicts.
- The global energy demand decreases due to Efficiency gains, Electrifications, and a rapid build-out of renewables.
- Expansion of renewable energy is increasing with sufficient speed to meet aggregate increase demand.
IEA World Energy Outlook: Pathways to Energy Mix
- The global energy market stabilized in the year 2023 after the price fluctuations in 2022. The energy demand is fixated at 2.1% of global energy demand.
- Usually, the energy demand increases with the increase in population and income but the demand for energy growth gets reduced to 0.7% per year from 2023 to 2030.
- The growth of electricity demand is a result of not just economic growth but also because of the increased electrification of end users, notably electric vehicles, and by rising demand for data centers
- Low-emission centers powered by renewable energy sources increase faster than overall electricity demand. which in turn reduces the consumption of fossil fuels.
- As the investments in clean energy increase a faster descent in the use of fossil fuels is needed to satisfy the pledges. And move the world towards a net zero emission target.
- Seven clean energy technologies Solar energy, wind, nuclear energy, hydrogen, and carbon capture are key to affordable transitions.
In spite of the growing need for energy, services increase in efficiency and electrification ade decreasing the demand of energy. The increase of clean technologies like renewable energy and electric vehicles will increase the demand for Oil, Natural gas, and Coal by 2030. CO2 emission reduction requires more clean energy investments.
IEA World Energy Outlook: Security, Affordability, and Sustainability
The goal of the policy should be a balance of security, affordability, and sustainability. Most of the time it will be a trade-off between these three. it will be a challenge for the policymakers to find a balance in the tradeoff so that focusing on one aspect does not compromise the other. Improving clean energy is important for fast and equitable transitions. Investment in clean energy rises from 2 trillion USD to almost 3 trillion USD in the STEPS in 2035.
Final thoughts: IEA World Energy Outlook
In this Report The International Energy Agency focuses on the present-day uncertainties in the scenarios that are complemented by Renewables, Electric vehicles, and Natural gas and the effect of heat waves, policies, rise in artificial intelligence in the outlook of electricity. Let us hope that this will surely bring some positive changes in the energy sector.
Read More:
The Best Energy Suppliers For Winter: Insights From Martin Lewis
