Are there reasons to be optimistic about the latest energy trends?
It may be a rare case, but I always enjoy diving into the flagship reports from the big international energy and climate agencies. It’s the big picture stuff that gives the context to what every sustainability-minded business is doing. Though I do find that digging into the detail usually brings a mix of positivity and pessimism.
The International Energy Agency’s Global Energy Review 2026, based on a wealth of data from 2025, is no exception. The optimistic view would be that the metaphorical oil tanker of woe is showing signs of starting to turn around. Or, at least, we’re heading in the wrong direction less fast than we were.
The key point is that the historic link between economy growth and emissions is being broken. Last year, the global economy grew faster (3.1%) than total energy use (1.3%), and much faster than greenhouse gas emissions (0.4%).
A few other facts which struck me:
- Growth in low-emission technologies (renewables and nuclear) met most of the growth in total energy demand. Solar played the largest part, the first time that a renewable source has taken that honour. Oil, gas and coal are all still growing, but slower than the previous year.
- Demand for electricity grew 3%, over twice the rate of total energy demand, largely driven by electric vehicles and data centres. New low-emission generation more than covered that growth.
- In advanced economies, low-emission sources now contribute over half of all electricity. However, total emissions from advanced economies are growing faster than those from emerging economies.
- The US, where new data centres accounted for half of all growth in electricity demand, increased coal burning by 10% – the only major economy to have an increase. In China, coal burning for electricity fell by 1.5% despite a 5% growth in demand, thanks to growing renewables.
- A quarter of new cars sold in 2025 were electric. In China, it was more than half. Sales of electric heavy trucks tripled, but still make up only 3% of the market in Europe.
- Battery storage is the fastest growing power technology, increasing 11-fold in five years. Around 80% of that is utility-scale storage, a vital complement for variable renewables.
It’s anybody’s guess what the number for the current year will look like, but it’s a fair bet that the ongoing fossil fuel crisis is leading to further increases in low-carbon generation and electrification technologies. As a cause for optimism, it’s an ironic one.