October 17, 2024 - In its latest “world energy outlook” annual report, the International Energy Agency (IEA) warns that demand for electricity around the world is rising faster than expected, making it harder for countries to cut carbon emissions, the New York Times reports. The IEA says that, over the next decade, the world could add the equivalent of Japan’s annual electricity demand to grids each year, driven by demand for new factories, electric vehicles, air-conditioners and data centres, the newspaper explains. “All that extra demand makes it tougher to tackle climate change,” the article says, adding: “Previously, the agency expected that global consumption of coal, the dirtiest of fossil fuels, would drop significantly by 2030 as wind and solar power expanded. But with electricity demand rising quickly in places like China and India, coal use is now projected to decline more gradually.” The outlet quotes IEA executive director Fatih Birol, who says the world is “moving at speed into the age of electricity, which will define the global energy system going forward”. 

The IEA report suggests this transition could see fossil fuels become significantly cheaper and more abundant as countries have access to more oil, gas and coal than needed to fuel their economic growth, the Guardian says. Birol says the report confirms the IEA’s forecast that the world’s fossil fuel consumption will peak before 2030 and fall into permanent decline as climate policies take effect, the newspaper reports. But the IEA “also flagged a high level of uncertainty as conflicts embroil the oil and gas-producing Middle East and Russia and as countries representing half of global energy demand have elections in 2024”, says Reuters. The Associated Press focuses its coverage on how the global shift to electric vehicles “is poised to disrupt the global oil market”. It adds: “The agency said based on current trends and policies and the availability of materials, EV will reach 50% of global car sales in 2030.” CNN leads with the potential “relief” for consumers brought by lower energy prices, while the Wall Street Journal notes that “clean energy sources are set to grow at a faster pace than global energy demand by the end of the decade, becoming the largest source of energy in the mid-2030s”.