Energy in Demand News, October 26-27, 2025

The EU's national leaders spent their summit venting frustration about the bloc's green transition — and ultimately agreed on language that demands no specific changes to climate legislation. Politico wrote that leaders ultimately refrained from bulldozing the EU’s climate targets, agreeing to a vaguely worded commitment to a green transition, though without committing to a 2040 … Continue reading Energy in Demand News, October 26-27, 2025 →

Energy in Demand News, June 15-16, 2025

The International Energy Agency (IEA) held its 10th annual Global Energy Efficiency Conference in Brussels this past week. The invitation-only two-day conference was co-chaired by the European Commissioner for Energy and Housing Dan Jørgensen and IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol, and was organised with the support of the Energy Efficiency Movement. There were many excellent panels and 700 attendees … Continue reading Energy in Demand News, June 15-16, 2025 →

Data centres will “compete with local communities for energy and water”

Tom Wicker writes on the International Bar Association website about some of the legal issues related to AI and data centres. What are your views? Climate crisis: AI data centres to drive significant increase in energy demand and emissions In April, the International Energy Agency published a report on the ever-growing links between energy … Continue reading Data centres will “compete with local communities for energy and water” →

Energy in Demand News, April 13, 2025

Let’s start this early spring week with some seasonal background music for you to enjoy reading this week’s newsletter. When Trump returned to the White House this year, we heard a lot of “drill, baby, drill.” Well, there is more. The Washington Post reports that at the White House this week: Trump signed executive orders … Continue reading Energy in Demand News, April 13, 2025 →

New IEA report: AI is set to drive surging electricity demand from data centres while offering the potential to transform how the energy sector works

A major new report from the International Energy Agency (IEA) brings groundbreaking data and analysis to one of the most pressing and least understood energy issues today, exploring AI’s wide range of potential impacts. Artificial intelligence has the potential to transform the energy sector in the coming decade, driving a surge in electricity demand from … Continue reading New IEA report: AI is set to drive surging electricity demand from data centres while offering the potential to transform how the energy sector works →

Data centres are the backbone of digital economies but come with a huge environmental cost

In an article on the Environment Journal website, Richard Clifford discusses the data centre climate impacts, particularly related to Scope 3 emissions. Every organisation needs to know data centre climate impacts, Scope 1-3 Data centres are the backbone of digital economies but come with a huge environmental cost. The push to deploy AI is … Continue reading Data centres are the backbone of digital economies but come with a huge environmental cost →

Energy in Demand News, March 23-24, 2025

Undoubtedly, executives of big companies are as pleased as could be. Many big companies have started to drop climate goals from executive pay plans, as reported by the Financial Times (behind a paywall). For example, the Swiss bank UBS’s annual report this week dropped language that linked executives’ pay to environmental, social and governance goals … Continue reading Energy in Demand News, March 23-24, 2025 →

There is a new vulnerability of America’s electrical grid: unannounced disconnections by data centres

Tim McLaughlin writes on the Reuters website about the increased vulnerability of America’s grids because of the big tech data centre boom. Is this also a problem in your country or region? Big Tech’s data center boom poses new risk to US grid operators Data Center Alley, a 30-square-mile stretch outside Washington D.C. and … Continue reading There is a new vulnerability of America’s electrical grid: unannounced disconnections by data centres →

Energy in Demand News, February 2, 2025

Who would have guessed? Norway’s coalition government has collapsed because of the EU’s energy efficiency directive, energy performance of buildings directive and renewable energy directive! The Eurosceptic junior coalition partner quit after the Prime Minister pushed to implement the energy directives. Norway (which is not a member of the European Union) adopts most of the … Continue reading Energy in Demand News, February 2, 2025 →

Data centres and the energy storage solution

In an article on the Clean Technica website, Tina Casey discusses the on-going issue of growing energy consumption for data centres and the possible energy storage solution. The concern is that by some estimates, data centre energy demands are projected to consume as much as 9% of US annual electricity generation by the year 2030. … Continue reading Data centres and the energy storage solution →