Global electricity consumption surged by nearly 1,100 terawatt-hours, or 4.3 per cent in 2024. This was nearly double the annual average over the past decade. “The sharp increase in the world’s electricity use last year was driven by record global temperatures, which boosted demand for cooling in many countries, as well as by rising consumption from industry, the electrification of transport, and the growth of data centres and artificial intelligence,” says a recent report of the International Energy Agency.
The expanding supply of low-emission sources covered most of the increase in global electricity demand in 2024. New renewable power capacity installed worldwide rose to around 700 gigawatts, setting a new annual record for the 22nd consecutive year. Nuclear power capacity additions reached their fifth highest level in the past three decades. As a result, 80 per cent of the increase in global electricity generation in 2024 was provided by renewable sources and nuclear, which together contributed 40 per cent of total generation for the first time. The supply of natural gas-fired generation also increased steadily to cover rising electricity demand.
“There are many uncertainties in the world today and different narratives about energy — but this new data-driven IEA report puts some clear facts on the table about what is happening globally,” said 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.”
Global warming: Greenhouse gas levels touch historic highs
Global warming associated carbon dioxide levels are at their highest in the last 8,00,000 years, according to the State of Climate 2024 report published by World Meteorological Organization (WMO). WMO measured the carbon dioxide levels at 420 parts per million in 2023.
Other greenhouse gases (GHGs) such as methane and nitrous oxide were also at their highest levels, resulting in record breaking temperatures in 2024, along with natural variations such as El Nino in the early part of 2024.
The global mean near-surface temperature was 1.55 degree C above pre-industrial average, according to an analysis by WMO, using six international datasets, with 2024 being the first year to cross the 1.5 degree C Paris Agreement threshold annually.
“While a single year above 1.5°C of warming does not indicate that the long-term temperature goals of the Paris Agreement are out of reach, it is a wake-up call that we are increasing the risks to our lives, economies and to the planet,” said Celeste Saulo, secretary general of the WMO.
The report stated that the long-term warming was 1.34–1.41 degree C as compared to the average in the pre-industrial period.