A new report from the International Energy Agency describes the future of global energy as the Age of Electricity. The latest World Energy Outlook 2024 (WEO) said the demand for electricity is rising.
By 2030, the report predicts that wind and solar along with other low-emission sources and clean energy technologies will generate more than half of the global electricity.
“In previous World Energy Outlooks, the International Energy Agency (IEA) made it clear that the future of the global energy system is electric—and now it is visible to everyone,” Fatih Birol, IEA’s executive director, said. “In energy history, we’ve witnessed the Age of Coal and the Age of Oil—and we’re now moving at speed into the Age of Electricity, which will define the global energy system going forward and increasingly be based on clean sources of electricity.”
In order for clean energy to continue to grow at the global electricity demand, the report said a “much greater investment in new energy systems, especially in electricity grids and energy storage, are necessary,” an IEA press release said. For every dollar spent on renewable energy, 60 cents are spent on grids and storage, therefore, the study said the investment ratio needs to rebalance to a 1:1 ratio to keep pace with the transition.
“In the second half of this decade, the prospect of more ample—or even surplus—supplies of oil and natural gas, depending on how geopolitical tensions evolve, would move us into a very different energy world from the one we have experienced in recent years during the global energy crisis,” Birol said. “It implies downward pressure on prices, providing some relief for consumers that have been hit hard by price spikes. The breathing space from fuel price pressures can provide policymakers with room to focus on stepping up investments in clean energy transitions and removing inefficient fossil fuel subsidies. This means government policies and consumer choices will have huge consequences for the future of the energy sector and for tackling climate change.”
Electricity use increased over the past decade at two times the rate of overall energy demand, the report said. That being said, the WEO-2024 emphasizes that the global energy system needs to be rebuilt, “one that prioritizes security, resilience and flexibility, and ensures that benefits of the new energy economy are shared and inclusive.” The IEA will host an International Summit on the Future of Energy Security in the second quarter of 2025 in London to address the existing and emerging risks facing the global energy system and discuss the solutions and opportunities.
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