The growth of clean energy technologies offers opportunities for countries looking to manufacture and trade them but also presents challenging decisions for governments, which face tensions and trade-offs based on the industrial and trade policies they opt to pursue, according to a major new IEA report.

Energy Technology Perspectives 2024 – the latest instalment of our flagship technology publication – focuses on the outlook for the top six mass-manufactured clean energy technologies: solar PV, wind turbines, electric cars, batteries, electrolysers and heat pumps. Based on today’s policy settings, the global market for these technologies is set to triple by 2035 and international trade in them is set to expand as well. At the same time, governments’ industrial and trade policies bring significant uncertainties to the outlook.

The report, which also looks at key materials like steel and aluminium, provides a first-of-its-kind analytical framework for policymakers as they navigate this fast-evolving landscape, based on newly assembled, detailed data on global supply chains and trade.

The analysis includes the energy security implications as trade in clean energy technologies expands. For example, around half of all maritime trade in clean energy technologies passes through the Strait of Malacca, which connects the Indian and Pacific Oceans. While the considerations for energy security differ, it is worth noting that this is significantly more than the roughly 20% of fossil fuel trade that passes through the Strait of Hormuz.

For more findings, read the press release and full report, including several interactive tools. You can also watch the launch event. And for more details on how the trade of clean energy technologies could evolve, take a look at the interactive trade explorer.

Our Executive Director Fatih Birol recently met with King Frederik X of Denmark to discuss energy and climate issues as well as the King’s support for IEA work.

Their bilateral meeting took place in Sønderborg, Denmark, and covered topics including energy efficiency and people-centred energy transitions. In Sønderborg, the King and Dr Birol both addressed a high-level event on Powering European Industry, which was attended by policymakers and CEOs from across the continent, with a focus on Europe’s economic competitiveness.

At the event, Dr Birol also had several other meetings, including with Denmark’s Minister of Climate, Energy and Utilities Lars Aagaard.

President Peter Pellegrini of the Slovak Republic visited our headquarters in Paris on Friday for a bilateral meeting with our Executive Director on a range of European and international energy issues.

Their discussion focused primarily on themes related to European energy security and economic competitiveness. These included the Slovak Republic’s progress on expanding its nuclear power capacity and the role of nuclear in supporting the security and stability of the European energy system while helping European industries compete internationally. President Pellegrini, who was accompanied by a delegation including the Slovak Ambassador, expressed interest in the upcoming IEA report on financing of nuclear power projects, which is due to be published in early 2025.
 

Dr Birol has also met with leaders from government and industry across Europe in a series of recent visits. He delivered keynote remarks at a roundtable event in London, chaired by UK Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero Ed Miliband, on mobilising finance for clean energy in emerging and developing economies that was attended by ministers and business leaders from around the world. Dr Birol and Secretary of State Miliband then had a bilateral meeting on topics including preparations for our International Summit on the Future of Energy Security that will take place at Lancaster House, London, on 24-25 April. This was followed by an audience with King Charles III during a reception at Buckingham Palace.

And, in Berlin, our Executive Director delivered a keynote speech on global energy and climate trends at an annual event with Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, the Federation of German Industries and the World Energy Council. In his speech, Dr Birol underscored Europe's urgent need for a new industrial master plan to ensure it can compete in the new global energy economy. He also signed a strategic partnership between the IEA and German development agency GIZ, enabling stronger cooperation on efforts to support energy transitions in emerging and developing economies around the globe.

One year on from the pledge by countries around the world to double the rate of energy efficiency improvements by 2030, new analysis from the IEA shows that countries are not yet on track for this goal, requiring stronger action and cooperation to align with their stated ambitions.

Energy Efficiency 2024, the IEA’s annual report on energy efficiency developments around the world, finds that global primary energy intensity – a measure of efficiency – is set to improve by around 1% in 2024. But doubling the rate of progress, in line with the goal agreed by nearly 200 countries in Dubai last year, would mean increasing it from 2% in 2022 to 4% by 2030.

Boosting energy efficiency is about getting more from everyday technologies and industrial processes for the same amount of energy input, and means more jobs, healthier cities and a range of other benefits. Improving the efficiency of buildings and vehicles, as well as in other areas, is central to clean energy transitions, since it simultaneously improves energy security, lowers energy bills for consumers and reduces greenhouse gas emissions.

The new report shows that governments worldwide are making policy progress, with those representing more than 70% of global energy demand implementing new or updated efficiency policies in 2024. However, to align with global targets, fresh policies need to arrive more quickly around the world, and many existing ones need to be tightened, it finds.

Read the press release and the full report, and go deeper into the numbers with the new Energy Efficiency Progress Tracker that provides up-to-date regional indicators on energy intensity, demand and electrification levels. This complements our wider analytical support for governments, such as the Energy Efficiency Policy Toolkits we publish annually.

Our Executive Director recently received visits at IEA headquarters from two high-profile figures from China. A meeting with China’s new Special Envoy for Climate Change Liu Zhenmin covered issues such as clean energy deployment and expectations for the COP29 climate conference in Baku, with an emphasis on financing energy transitions in developing economies. Dr Birol also met with former Special Envoy for Climate Change Xie Zhenhua for a discussion about efforts to reach international climate goals and the outlook for clean energy technologies.

Our Deputy Executive Director also recently travelled to OLADE Energy Week in Asunción, Paraguay. There, she signed a new Memorandum of Understanding with OLADE Executive Secretary Andrés Rebolledo, delivered keynote remarks at the Ministerial Meeting, and met with leaders including Paraguay's First Lady Leticia Ocampos, Colombia's Minister of Mines and Energy Andrés Camacho, and Brazil's Secretary of Planning Thiago Barral. She also signed a new Joint Work Programme with Argentina's Undersecretary of Transition and Energy Planning Mariela Beljanski.

We recently published a new report, Achieving a Net Zero Electricity Sector in Viet Nam. It aims to provide stakeholders in Viet Nam and internationally with an assessment of different pathways for achieving its targets and reaching net zero emissions in the power sector. You can read it here.

Another new report looks at the international conversation and emerging understandings on definitions for near-zero and low-emissions steel and cement, as well as underlying emissions measurement methodologies. It's available here.

On 20 November, we'll host a webinar on our upcoming special report on recycling critical minerals. The lead authors will present the key findings from the report and host a panel discussion with industry and policy experts. You can learn more and register here.

Also on 20 November, we're hosting a webinar on the state of play and future opportunities for developing biomethane. Discussion will focus on questions such as how current policies and incentives can be tweaked to unlock production potential and whether policy tools are adequately helping to stimulate demand. You can learn more and register here.