Recently, the International Energy Agency released the latest report of the Global Energy Assessment, which comprehensively analyzes the development trends of the global energy industry in 2024. The reporting system has sorted out core issues such as the global energy supply and demand pattern, the application trend of new energy technologies, and the carbon emissions situation in the energy sector. The report shows that global energy demand will increase by 2.2% year-on-year in 2024, exceeding the annual average growth rate of 1.3% between 2013 and 2023. Emerging market countries and developing economies still account for 80% of the incremental energy demand. The energy demand of developed economies has shown a recovery trend after several years of contraction, achieving nearly 1% positive growth. Electricity consumption continues to rise globally. The power sector has become the core driving force behind the accelerated growth of global energy demand in the past year. The report shows that global electricity consumption will increase by nearly 1100 terawatt hours in 2024, a year-on-year increase of 4.3%, which is equivalent to twice the average annual growth rate of the past 10 years. On the one hand, the record breaking high temperatures worldwide in the past year have led to a surge in demand for electric refrigeration in many countries and regions; On the other hand, the expansion of industrial electricity consumption, the acceleration of transportation electrification, and the rapid development of data centers and artificial intelligence industries have also provided strong support for electricity demand. Renewable energy has become the main force to meet the growing demand for new electricity energy. In 2024, the newly installed capacity of renewable energy climbed to around 700 gigawatts, breaking records for the 22nd consecutive year. In 2024, 80% of the global increase in electricity generation will be met by renewable energy and nuclear energy, with the combined proportion of the two exceeding 40% for the first time. With the rapid growth of global electricity demand, the consumption of renewable energy, natural gas, coal, and nuclear energy is all on the rise. The Director General of the International Energy Agency, Fatih Birol, pointed out that the rapid growth of electricity consumption is driving up overall energy demand, and its strong momentum is enough to reverse the continuous decline in energy consumption in developed economies. In 2024, the demand for all major energy varieties and technologies will show an increasing trend, with renewable energy contributing the most to incremental growth, followed by natural gas. The rapid development of solar energy, wind energy, nuclear power, and electric vehicles has weakened the traditional correlation between economic growth and carbon emissions. The report shows that in the past year, natural gas demand growth rate has ranked first among fossil fuels. The global annual natural gas consumption increased by 115 billion cubic meters compared to the previous year, with a growth rate of 2.7%, significantly higher than the average annual growth level of 75 billion cubic meters in the past 10 years. In comparison, the growth rate of oil demand has significantly slowed down, with a global annual increase of only 0.8% in oil demand, accounting for less than 30% of its global energy demand for the first time. One important reason for this situation is the sustained activity of the electric vehicle market. In 2024, global electric vehicle sales will increase by over 25% year-on-year, which significantly reduces the growth of fossil fuel consumption and lowers the demand for oil in the transportation sector. Meanwhile, the global coal demand growth rate will also decrease to 1% in 2024. The report shows that the accelerated promotion of clean energy technologies has effectively suppressed the growth of energy related carbon dioxide emissions in 2024, further weakening the correlation between carbon emissions and economic growth. Data shows that global carbon dioxide emissions will slightly increase by 0.8% year-on-year in 2024, reaching a total of 37.8 billion tons. Since 2019, with the large-scale application of technologies such as photovoltaic power generation, wind power, nuclear power, electric vehicles, and heat pumps, the world has reduced its carbon dioxide emissions by 2.6 billion tons annually, equivalent to 7% of the total global emissions. Birol stated that structural changes such as the slowdown in global oil demand growth and the accelerated penetration of electric vehicles, as well as the strengthening of the role of electricity and the continued decoupling of carbon emissions from economic growth, are reshaping the global energy landscape. The substitution effect of the clean technology revolution on traditional energy systems is becoming increasingly apparent. (New Society)