Meta's Mesa datacentre in the US
Energy’s electric shock
The scale of energy demand growth by 2030 and beyond asks huge questions of gas supply especially in the US
The IEA recently published a special study on energy and AI that builds on its global conference on the topic that took place in Paris last December. The report states that datacentres of all kinds accounted for 1.5% of global electricity consumption in 2024, amounting to 415TWh. That demand was highly concentrated, with the US accounting for 45% of consumption; China, 25%; Europe, 15%; and the rest of the world combined also 15%. According to the IEA’s forecast, datacentre demand is set to double by 2030, to around 945TWh, which is slightly more than Japan’s annual electricity consumption today. The projected rate of annual demand growth is 15% from 2024 to 2030, which is four times faster
Also in this section
10 November 2025
The Russian firm made a significant attempt to expand overseas over the past two decades but is now trying to divest its global operations
10 November 2025
OPEC+ has proven to be astute at bringing back oil production, but mysteries around Chinese buying, missing barrels and oil-on-water have left the group in wait-and-see mode
7 November 2025
The Russian company’s German assets are under Berlin’s management and are exempt from sanctions, for now, but a permanent solution still needs to be found
6 November 2025
After years of pursuing ideologically driven climate leadership, Western powers are now stepping back under mounting political pressure and rising populist opposition—prompting concern essential climate action could be sidelined
