Energy in Demand News, July 6-7, 2025

The Guardian reports that Europe’s heatwaves have failed to stimulate support for climate action. “As heatwaves engulfed large swathes of Europe and North America last week – the latest in a stream of deadly extremes made worse by fossil fuel pollution – green groups are frustrated that increasingly violent weather has not spurred the urgent … Continue reading Energy in Demand News, July 6-7, 2025 →

ABB has broken its own world record for energy efficiency in large synchronous electric motors

A large synchronous electric motor created for a steel plant in India is the most efficient ever made, thanks to Top Industrial Efficiency design The steel plant will have estimated electricity cost savings of around $6 million through improved energy efficiency over the motor’s 25-year lifespan The investment in energy efficiency will have a projected … Continue reading ABB has broken its own world record for energy efficiency in large synchronous electric motors →

Developing new light-driven techniques inspired by nature’s efficiency to help the chemical manufacturing industry become more efficient

In an article on The Conversation website, Arindam Sau, Ph.D. Candidate in Chemistry, University of Colorado Boulder; Amreen Bains, Postdoctoral Scholar in Chemistry, Colorado State University; and Anna Wolff, Ph.D. Student in Chemistry, Colorado State University discuss a new energy-efficient approach for the chemical manufacturing industry. Light-powered reactions could make the chemical manufacturing industry … Continue reading Developing new light-driven techniques inspired by nature’s efficiency to help the chemical manufacturing industry become more efficient →

New EEA report on renewable electricity in Europe’s energy transition

Scaling up renewable electricity sources across the EU could reduce electricity generation costs, improve energy independence, and support the transition towards clean industry, according to a European Environment Agency (EEA) report published this week. At the same time, accelerating the electrification of heating, transport and industry is needed to support Europe’s clean and competitive future. … Continue reading New EEA report on renewable electricity in Europe’s energy transition →

Tracing the origins of China’s dominance in the electric vehicle market

Annabelle Liang & Nick Marsh write on the BBC news website about how China came to dominate the global EV market. How China made electric vehicles mainstream "I drive an electric vehicle because I am poor," says Lu Yunfeng, a private hire driver, who is at a charging station on the outskirts of Guangzhou … Continue reading Tracing the origins of China’s dominance in the electric vehicle market →

Britain’s energy transition: while the government’s priority is energy savings for larger businesses, SMEs typically pay the highest rates for their energy

Sam Hampton, Researcher, Environmental Geography, University of Oxford and Jan Rosenow, Leader of the Energy Programme, Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford, University of Oxford, write on The Conversation website about plans to cut energy bills for large industry but SMEs are getting no relief. One worries that this could seriously affect the overall economy. … Continue reading Britain’s energy transition: while the government’s priority is energy savings for larger businesses, SMEs typically pay the highest rates for their energy →

Is there a future for carbon capture and storage?

In an article on The Conversation website, Andres Clarens, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Virginia argues that carbon capture offered an expensive “Band-Aid” on old technology. Investing in materials innovation and new techniques for making them promises fundamental transformation for the future. How the end of carbon capture could spark a … Continue reading Is there a future for carbon capture and storage? →

Energy in Demand News, June 22-23, 2025

The European Union is making a big effort to decarbonise and to reduce its dependence on Russian gas. One of the options is to expand the use of nuclear energy. However, the Financial Times writes about how complicated it is to reduce dependence on Russia for nuclear fuel: “The EU has 101 nuclear reactors of … Continue reading Energy in Demand News, June 22-23, 2025 →

Energy in Demand News, June 1-2, 2025

Austria and Slovenia are the only European countries whose defence ministries have committed to reaching net zero military emissions, according to an analysis of 30 European countries (EU 27 plus Norway, Switzerland and UK). An article in the Guardian on the analysis added that only about one-third have worked out the size of their carbon … Continue reading Energy in Demand News, June 1-2, 2025 →

Energy in Demand News, May 11-12, 2025

The Financial Times reported an escalation of scientists’ fears of a breach of the 1.5C warming level set down in the Paris accord, after the latest data showing the monthly average global temperature had topped the threshold for 21 out of the past 22 months. The global average temperature over the 12-month period to the … Continue reading Energy in Demand News, May 11-12, 2025 →