Up to 30pc of global energy is lost or wasted
Outlook 2022: Using data to match excess energy with demand
Technology may help bridge the gap between energy waste and rising demand
At first glance, the issues of climate change and the transition to a zero-carbon economy, and those of wasted excess energy and meeting growing power demand—especially for high-performance computing and datacentre services—may seem at odds with one another. Much of the focus today is rightly on mitigating the worst effects of climate change and the transition away from fossil fuels to low-carbon and sustainable alternatives. This approach, however, risks overlooking some crucial issues, such as ensuring a just transition for countries in the developing world—the socioeconomic development of which has been predicated upon revenues derived from extractive industries—and how to bridge the gap
Also in this section
17 July 2025
Oil and gas companies will face penalties if they fail to reach the EU’s binding CO₂ injection targets for 2030, but they could also risk building underused and unprofitable CCS infrastructure
9 July 2025
Latin American country plans a cap-and-trade system and supports the scale-up of CCS as it prepares to host COP30
3 July 2025
European Commission introduces new flexibilities for member states to ease compliance with headline goal
1 July 2025
Supportive government policy, deforestation threat and economic opportunity drive forward the region’s monetisation of forest carbon
