Global energy demand spiked in 2024, driven largely by surging electricity use, according to a new report released today by the International Energy Agency (IEA). Electricity consumption jumped by nearly 1,100 terawatt-hours – a hefty 4.3% increase – nearly twice the annual average growth of the past decade.
This dramatic rise was largely fueled by the electrification of transportation, record-breaking global temperatures that ramped up cooling needs, coupled with increased industrial activity, and growing energy demand from data centers and AI applications.
Renewables were the real stars in meeting this rising energy need, according to the IEA’s latest edition of the Global Energy Review. The world installed roughly 700 gigawatts (GW) of new renewable power capacity last year, marking the 22nd consecutive record-setting year. Renewables, together with nuclear power – which saw its fifth-highest growth in three decades – accounted for a massive 80% of the global electricity supply increase. Together, renewables and nuclear reached a milestone, covering 40% of total global electricity generation for the first time.
IEA executive director Fatih Birol highlighted the key takeaway: “What is certain is that electricity use is growing rapidly, pulling overall energy demand along with it to such an extent that it is enough to reverse years of declining energy consumption in advanced economies.” He also emphasized the positive shift: “The strong expansion of solar, wind, nuclear power, and EVs is increasingly loosening the links between economic growth and emissions.”
Among fossil fuels, natural gas saw the largest increase, up by 115 billion cubic meters (bcm), or 2.7%, driven primarily by rising electricity demand, compared with an average of around 75 bcm annually over the past decade.
EV sales surged by over 25% in 2024, now making up 1 in every 5 cars sold globally, and this had a notable impact on oil demand, which grew modestly, at just 0.8%. Oil notably fell below 30% of total energy demand for the first time ever, 50 years after it peaked at 46%.
Coal, despite increasing by 1%, slowed its growth significantly compared to previous years, with intense heatwaves in China and India accounting for over 90% of this rise.
Meanwhile, emissions data painted an encouraging picture: CO2 emissions in advanced economies fell by 1.1% to to 10.9 billion tonnes in 2024 – a level not seen in 50 years, even as their economies have tripled in size. Record temperatures contributed significantly to the annual 0.8% rise in global CO2 emissions to 37.8 billion tonnes. But the rapid adoption of clean energy technologies since 2019 is now preventing 2.6 billion tonnes of CO2 annually – the equivalent of 7% of global emissions.
Dr. Birol summed it up: “From slowing global oil demand growth and rising deployment of electric cars to the rapidly expanding role of electricity and the increasing decoupling of emissions from economic growth, many of the key trends the IEA has identified ahead of the curve are showing up clearly in the data for 2024.”
Read more: Tripling renewables globally by 2030 is doable, says new IEA report
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