Show Notes
For the past 10 years, the IEA’s World Energy Investment report has been the definitive guide to where money is going in the global energy sector. It breaks down the latest data for all the key fuels, technologies and industries.
In a context of heightened geopolitical and economic uncertainty, global energy investment is set to reach a record $3.3 trillion in 2025. In this episode, we’re joined by Cecilia Tam, Head of the IEA’s Energy Investment Unit. She unpacks the report’s key themes – from how energy security concerns are driving investment decisions, to China’s position as the single biggest investor in energy, and why so much money is going into electricity.
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Since the start of the Iran war in February, energy exports from Middle East countries through the Strait of Hormuz and via other routes have become the focus of intense global attention, with significant implications for the world economy and especially for Middle East countries themselves.
Since the mid-20th century, scientists and engineers around the world have been working to harness the potential of fusion energy. Driven by the knowledge that success could revolutionise the energy system, they have pursued fusion’s tantalising potential to provide abundant around-the-clock electricity with minimal fuel inputs, no direct emissions and very little radioactive waste.
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Invented at the turn of the 20th century to control humidity at a New York printing plant, the air conditioner has reshaped the economies and societies that have had access to it. Today, more than 1.5 billion AC units are in use around the world – and as incomes and temperatures rise, demand continues to grow rapidly.
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