Increase In Electricity Demand For Cooling Due To Extreme Heat & Climate Change :IEA

According to the Global Energy Review 2025 by International Energy Agency (IEA)-Clean energy sources could not fully meet a surge in electricity demand in 2024, mainly due to the effects of rising temperatures.

Global Energy Review is the first comprehensive depiction of the trends that took place in 2024 across the entire energy sector, covering data for all fuels and technologies, all regions and countries, and energy-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.

The latest data show that the world’s appetite for energy rose at a faster-than average pace in 2024, resulting in higher demand for all energy sources, including oil, natural gas, coal, renewables and nuclear power.

This growth was led by the power sector, with demand for electricity rising almost twice as fast as wider energy demand due to higher demand for cooling, rising consumption by industry, the electrification of transport and the growth of data centres and artificial intelligence. Nearly all of the rise in electricity demand was met by low-emissions sources, led by the record-breaking expansion of solar PV capacity, with further growth in other renewables and nuclear power.

While almost all regions saw an acceleration in electricity consumption, China and Southeast Asia saw the fastest increases in 2024, according to the IEA report.

After a decline in 2023, advanced economies led by the United States saw a return to growth in electricity consumption driven by strong demand for cooling, growth in the data-centre sector and a pickup in industrial production.

Gas demand also picked up substantially, while oil and coal consumption increased more slowly than in 2023. CO2 emissions from the energy sector continued to increase in 2024 but at a slower rate than in 2023. A key driver was record-high temperatures: if global weather patterns in 2023 had repeated in 2024, around half of the increase in global emissions would have been avoided. At the same time, the continued rapid adoption of clean energy technologies is limiting emissions growth, according to new analysis – avoiding 2.6 billion tonnes of additional CO2 emissions per year.

Key findings

• Global energy demand grew by 2.2% in 2024 – faster than the average rate over the past decade. Demand for all fuels and technologies expanded in 2024. The increase was led by the power sector as electricity demand surged by 4.3%, well above the 3.2% growth in global GDP, driven by record temperatures, electrification and digitalisation. Renewables accounted for most of the growth in global energy supply (38%), followed by natural gas (28%), coal (15%), oil (11%) and nuclear (8%). • Emerging and developing economies accounted for over 80% of global energy demand growth. In China, growth in energy demand slowed to under 3% in 2024, half the rate in 2023 and well below China’s average annual growth of 4.3% in recent years. Nevertheless, China still saw the largest demand growth in absolute terms of any country in 2024. India saw the second-largest rise in energy demand in absolute terms – more than the increase in all advanced economies combined.
• Advanced economies also saw a notable return to growth in energy demand after several years of declines, with demand rising by almost 1%. The United States saw the third-largest absolute demand growth in 2024 after China and India. The European Union returned to growth for the first time since 2017 (aside from the post-Covid rebound in 2021).
• Global oil demand growth slowed markedly in 2024, in line with the IEA’s forecast. Oil’s share of total energy demand fell below 30% for the first time ever, 50 years after peaking at 46%. Demand for oil rose by 0.8% in 2024, compared with a 1.9% increase in 2023. However, trends varied between sectors and regions. Oil demand from global road transport fell slightly, driven by declines in China (-1.8%) and advanced economies (-0.3%). Oil demand from aviation and petrochemicals grew.
• Natural gas saw the strongest demand growth among fossil fuels. Demand increased by 2.7% in 2024, rising by 115 billion cubic metres (bcm), compared with an average of around 75 bcm annually over the past decade. China had the largest absolute growth in gas demand in 2024 of over 7% (30 bcm), with growth also strong in other emerging and developing economies in Asia. Gas demand expanded by around 2% (20 bcm) in the United States. Consumption grew modestly in the European Union.

SOURCE : IEA

Record temperatures push up power demand

Soaring use of cooling technologies like air conditioning in response to extreme heat was a key factor in the growing appetite for electricity, especially in China and India, which are heavy users of coal power, the IEA said. Last year was the hottest on record and the global average temperature for 2024 exceeded the Paris Agreement benchmark of 1.5C above pre-industrial levels for the first time.

World uses more coal, gas and renewables

Power generation from solar panels and wind turbines increased at a record pace thanks to a rapid rate of new installations, while nuclear power output was boosted by new projects and the restarting of reactors in France and Japan, the report noted. But electricity generation from fossil gas and coal kept growing and, overall, fossil fuels still represented 60% of the global electricity mix last year.

The writer of this article is Dr. Seema Javed, an environmentalist & a communications professional in the field of climate and energy