Rising temperatures drove a surge in energy demand last year, IEA says

Record high temperatures contributed to a sharp increase in the world’s electricity use last year, the International Energy Agency (IEA)’s latest report reveals.

Intense heatwaves boosted people’s demand for cooling in many countries, adding to rising consumption from industry, the electrification of transport, and the growth of data centres and AI.

These power-hungry factors drove a 2.2 per cent rise in energy demand last year – lower than GDP growth of 3.2 per cent, but almost twice its recent average of 1.3 per cent between 2013 and 2023.

“There are many uncertainties in the world today and different narratives about energy,” says IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol. “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.”

“The result is that demand for all major fuels and energy technologies increased in 2024, with renewables covering the largest share of the growth, followed by natural gas. And the strong expansion of solar, wind, nuclear power and EVs is increasingly loosening the links between economic growth and emissions.”

How is climate change increasing emissions?

The feedback loop between rising temperatures and emissions is one concerning trend in IEA’s Global Energy Review 2025.

Fierce heatwaves in China and India – which pushed up cooling needs – contributed more than 90 per cent of the total annual increase in coal consumption globally. 

Record temperatures around the world contributed significantly to the annual 0.8 per cent rise in global CO2 emissions to 37.8 billion tonnes. 

But the deployment of solar and wind energy, nuclear, electric cars and heat pumps since 2019 now prevents 2.6 billion tonnes of CO2 each year, according to the IEA. That’s equivalent to 7 per cent of global emissions.

More good news from the report includes how the expanding supply of low-emissions sources covered most of the increase in global electricity demand in 2024. The amount of new renewable power capacity installed worldwide rose to around 700 gigawatts last year.

What is the energy picture in Europe?

Europe’s renewables revolution is continuing apace. Wind and solar reached a record share of 28 per cent of electricity production last year, surpassing the combined share from coal and gas for the first time. 

In total, renewables accounted for almost 50 per cent of electricity production. Following severe droughts in 2023, above-average rainfall helped increase hydropower generation.

But poor wind conditions in Europe drove up fossil fuel use in the power sector. 

Overall, while energy demand in the EU started to grow again for the first time since 2017 (aside from the post-COVID rebound in 2021), its energy-related CO2 emissions decreased by 2.2 per cent.

“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,” adds Dr Birol.