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All hail electrification. But let’s talk about the hard part.
Confirmed
In Short: The International Energy Agency's report on global electrification trends underscores both opportunities and challenges.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) released a report last week highlighting the global shift towards electrification, emphasizing the alignment of priorities driven partly by rising fuel prices and energy security concerns.
According to the report, the world used 16.7 percent of its final energy from electricity in 2000, which increased to 23.4 percent in 2025. This trend reflects a growing reliance on electricity as a cleaner and more secure energy source.
However, energy-systems researchers caution that electrification is not a foregone conclusion. Emily Grubert, an energy systems researcher at the University of Notre Dame, noted that political priorities and entrenched industries can slow down the transition.
Kenneth Medlock III, senior director for the Center for Energy Studies at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, stressed the importance of evaluating the costs and benefits of electrification thoroughly.
Fossil-fuel power plants are expensive to build, but the advantages of any option come with disadvantages, especially outside the wealthiest economies. Chuks Okereke, professor of global climate governance and public policy at the University of Bristol, highlighted the tougher case for electrification in less affluent regions.
Fatih Birol, the IEA executive director, closed his UN speech by discussing the goal of achieving 35 percent electrification of final energy by 2035. Birol’s optimism is notable given his leadership role in the world’s leading energy research organization.
David Victor, a professor of innovation and public policy at the University of California, San Diego, described today’s energy system as a Rorschach test, reflecting varied perspectives on energy choices.
China’s growing involvement in Africa’s energy sector, particularly in infrastructure development and electrification, underscores the global nature of these transitions.
Experts agree that while electrification offers significant benefits, it also requires careful consideration of political, economic, and environmental trade-offs.
What this adds
The report's optimism about electrification contrasts with the nuanced views of energy researchers who emphasize the need for comprehensive evaluation and the challenges posed by political and economic factors.
What's confirmed
- That’s one of the ideas underpinning a report the International Energy Agency issued last week about the global move toward electrification.
- He said those priorities are increasingly aligning in part because of the Iran war, which has driven up fuel prices and exacerbated concerns about energy security.
- Global electrification trends also tell the story.
- But this doesn’t mean electrification is inevitable, according to energy-systems researchers.
- Some of the trade-offs are political, with elected officials and entrenched industries seeking to slow electrification, said Emily Grubert, an energy systems researcher at the University of Notre Dame.
- Kenneth Medlock III, senior director for the Center for Energy Studies at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, said it’s vital to fully evaluate the costs and benefits of electrification.
- Fossil-fuel power plants also are expensive to build, but his larger point is that the advantages of any option come with disadvantages Outside the wealthiest economies, the case for electrification is tougher to make, said Chuks Okereke, professor of global climate governance and public policy at the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom.
- It’s notable that the leader of the world’s leading energy research organization is so optimistic about electrification.
- I reached out to energy researchers this week to get their reaction.
- “Sometimes in the bid for optimism, we oversimplify and ignore important contexts,” he said.
- “We have to make choices, we have to make trade-offs but when we look at the world today, for the first time in years, all of these three objectives are getting aligned.” Birol’s referring to the “energy trilemma,” a concept in energy and economics research about the need to balance cost, security and environmental impact of sources and systems.
- “I think [Birol is] basically correct, but the reason we’re not seeing transition happening rapidly and naturally is that the ‘we’ he’s referring to is not the ‘we’ that actually makes the decisions,” she said in an email.
What's still developing
- China’s engagement in Africa’s energy sector is an important part of its broader strategic relationship with the continent.
- We deliver climate news to your inbox like nobody else.
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- To accompany the interactive map and raw data on China’s energy projects in Africa, CGSP is developing what we call a “content bouquet” on the topic.
- Hitting “see details” on the pop-up will create a larger pop-up screen that includes the full details of the project.
- With $100 worth of gasoline, an internal-combustion-engine car would go 862 miles; with $100 worth of electricity, an electric vehicle would go 2,310 miles—nearly a threefold advantage for the EV.
- For home heating, $100 would buy enough fuel for a gas boiler to provide 30 days of heating; it would also fund enough electricity for a heat pump to provide 42 days of heating—a 40 percent edge for the heat pump.