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The report highlights the systemic risks of fossil fuel dependency, noting that three-quarters of the global population live in importing countries that spent $1.7 trillion on imports in 2024. It argues that the current crisis in the Middle East, particularly the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, serves as a catalyst for Asia to transition to electric technologies. The document asserts that scaling EVs, solar, wind, and heat pumps could reduce fossil fuel import bills by approximately 70%, with EVs already displacing 1.7 million barrels of oil per day in 2025.

A conflict in the Middle East in March 2026 caused European gas prices to spike by nearly 50%, increasing the EU's fossil import bill by €2.5 billion in ten days. The report highlights that countries with lower gas reliance, such as Spain, are more insulated from electricity price hikes than gas-heavy markets like Italy. It argues against suspending carbon costs under the EU Emissions Trading Scheme, noting that gas volatility has a far greater impact on bills than carbon pricing.

A coalition of organisations calls on the European Council and EU Member States to protect the integrity of the EU ETS against short-term political intervention. The letter argues that stable carbon pricing is essential for low-carbon industrial investment and warns that weakening the system would increase regulatory risks and financing costs. The signatories demand the maintenance of the agreed cap trajectory for 2030 and 2040 targets, the upholding of the polluter pays principle regarding the phase-out of free allocations, and the strategic use of auction revenues and the Innovation Fund to avoid fossil-based lock-in.

The Strait of Hormuz is a critical global energy chokepoint through which approximately 20% of the world's oil and LNG flows. Japan, South Korea, India, and China are the most exposed, collectively accounting for 75% of oil and 59% of LNG flows through the route. Japan is identified as the most at-risk country due to its extreme reliance on imported fossil fuels. A blockade could trigger global price surges, potentially pushing oil to USD 130 or even USD 300 per barrel. The document suggests that transitioning to renewables and electrification, as seen in Europe's response to the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, is essential to mitigate these geopolitical risks.

The authors argue that traditional 'primary energy' accounting is flawed because it ignores energy quality and conversion losses, creating a 'primary energy fallacy'. By reframing the system from the consumer's perspective and focusing on 'flows' (change) rather than 'stocks' (totals), the paper identifies four 'battles' of the energy transition. It concludes that 'electrotech' is winning the battles for electron supply, useful work, and useful heat due to superior thermodynamic efficiency, which significantly reduces the total primary energy required to meet human development needs.

RMI's analysis of more than 200 utility PIMs reveals a strong preference for 'upside-only' reward structures over penalties, with Return on Equity (ROE) and shared savings being the most common and highest-paying designs. While utilities consistently achieve targets for percentage adder-based and equity-focused PIMs, the report suggests that targets may be set too low. Most PIMs are short-term experiments lasting two to three years, except for fuel cost-sharing and distributed energy resource mechanisms, which often lack end dates to provide regulatory certainty.

The document critiques the Indonesian government's strategy of nationalizing companies that violated environmental laws, arguing that state-led initiatives like the Food and Energy Estates are causing massive deforestation in Papua. It warns that these projects risk repeating the failures of the 1990s Mega Rice project and may deter foreign investment due to perceived legal instability and corruption. The author suggests that the government should instead leverage its power to force companies to fund ecosystem restoration and shift agricultural expansion to degraded lands rather than intact forests.

The report critiques proposed rollbacks of US vehicle fuel economy and emissions standards by the DOT and EPA. It argues that the agencies incorrectly assume fuel efficiency improvements necessarily sacrifice vehicle performance, leading to an overestimation of costs to consumers. The author contends that many compliance pathways, such as turbocharging and electrification, can improve both efficiency and performance, and that reducing horsepower can provide public benefits by decreasing accident rates and infrastructure wear.

The document outlines the complex regulatory and permitting landscape for transmission in Colorado, contrasting the processes for public utilities and independent developers. It highlights the role of the Colorado Electric Transmission Authority (CETA) in addressing transmission gaps identified in a 2024 study, specifically through its ability to issue revenue bonds, exercise eminent domain, and facilitate public-private partnerships to advance complex projects that traditional utility planning might overlook.

The document describes how replacing diesel-powered mining machinery with battery-electric alternatives or trolley-assist systems reduces greenhouse gas emissions. It focuses on the Copper Mountain Mine, where the use of hydroelectricity-powered trolley-assist systems for haul trucks is expected to reduce annual emissions by approximately 9,400 tCO2e.

The policy brief advocates for a hierarchical approach to industrial decarbonization in the United States, prioritizing energy efficiency and electrification over carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS). It argues that CCUS should be limited to niche uses because it fails to address upstream emissions, captures only about 90 percent of CO2, and prolongs fossil fuel infrastructure. The document identifies six high-priority CCUS use cases, dividing them into long-term solutions for process emissions and bioenergy, and short-term solutions for blue hydrogen production, high-temperature heat, high-purity CO2 streams, and new efficient facilities.

To align with a 1.5°C pathway, the EU must increase wind and solar generation by a factor of 2 to 2.5 by 2030, reaching 1,618–1,861 TWh. This requires adding nearly 700 GW of new capacity (580 GW solar, 120 GW wind) by 2030. While current wind rollout is broadly consistent with these benchmarks, solar deployment is lagging, with a projected capacity gap of almost 160 GW by 2030. The report argues that fossil fuels must exit the EU power sector by 2035, with wind and solar providing 86% of electricity generation by 2050.

Danfoss is implementing a decarbonization strategy at its Grodzisk, Poland facility by combining the construction of near-zero emission halls with the retrofitting of older facilities. Key measures include replacing natural gas with electric heat pumps and boilers, implementing a 'Shutting Off Initiative' for idle machinery, and installing waste heat recovery systems. These actions have resulted in significant energy savings, including 4,600 kWh per day from powering down machines and €420,000 in annual savings from air handling unit retrofits.

The document advocates for demand-side flexibility in Canada to manage increasing electricity demand from electrification and AI data centers. It highlights that relying solely on new production capacity is costly and inefficient. By using tools like smart thermostats, EV charging management, and virtual power plants, the grid can reduce peak loads (peak shaving) or shift consumption to off-peak hours (load shifting). This approach benefits utilities by delaying infrastructure upgrades and benefits consumers through lower bills. The text cites successful pilot programs in Quebec, British Columbia, and Ontario, while urging federal and provincial governments to integrate demand flexibility into clean energy policies and regulations.

The Union of Concerned Scientists analysis finds that Michigan's electricity demand could nearly double by 2050, driven significantly by AI-related data centers. While current policies may lead to increased fossil gas capacity and emissions due to an energy export loophole, a proposed CO2 reduction policy could enable Michigan to meet 95% of its 2050 demand with renewables and low-carbon sources, avoiding $3.5 billion in local health costs and $408 billion in global climate damages.

In 2025, the EU reached a milestone where wind and solar generated more electricity (30.1%) than all fossil fuel sources (29.0%) for the first time on record. Solar generation grew by 20.1% to reach a record 369 TWh, while coal fell to a historic low of 9.2% of the mix. Despite this, gas generation rose by 8% due to low hydro output, increasing the EU power sector's gas import bill by 16% to €32 billion. The report highlights the role of a growing battery pipeline—exceeding 10 GW of large batteries in 2025—in reducing reliance on expensive gas and mitigating the curtailment of clean power, particularly in Germany.

The UK's hydrogen strategy requires a course correction to prioritize hard-to-electrify sectors and resolve policy misalignments across government departments. While the UK has established production targets and funding streams like the Hydrogen Allocation Rounds (HAR), inconsistent frameworks between the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) and the Department for Transport (DfT) create investment barriers. The document warns that slow policy delivery and high energy costs risk turning decarbonisation into deindustrialisation, as seen in the shutdown of the UK ammonia industry. It recommends integrating hydrogen strategy with broader industrial decarbonisation, aligning low-carbon fuel standards, and increasing stakeholder representation in decision-making bodies like the Hydrogen Delivery Council.

The report identifies induction stoves as the most practical alternative to LPG in Indonesia, noting that they are cheaper than unsubsidized LPG for both households and the government. It highlights that current universal LPG subsidies are the primary barrier to adoption and proposes a reform where subsidies for well-off households are replaced by induction subsidies, potentially saving the government IDR 7–12 trillion annually. Recommendations include lowering voltage upgrade costs, implementing one-off connection subsidies for stoves and cookware, and targeting LPG subsidies specifically to low-income households.

The report highlights a trend of massive infrastructure spending by both electric and gas utilities in the U.S., which is driving up consumer energy bills. While the electric sector has a 'full toolbox' of regulatory and technical solutions to manage costs, the author contends that gas utility solutions are 'more nascent and uncharted.' The document proposes the use of a gas system analysis (GSA) to provide the foundational technical information necessary for decision-makers to avoid investing in redundant or irrelevant long-lived assets.

Colombia is projected to face a gas supply deficit starting in 2030, with domestic production and import capacity unable to meet demand. The report argues that this vulnerability can be mitigated by implementing energy efficiency measures in the industrial sector and electrifying cooking and water heating in the residential sector. Together, these actions could reduce 2030 gas demand by 21,545 GBtu, which is 1.5 times the projected deficit for that year. The authors recommend a planned exit from gas, including a national appliance replacement programme, the reorientation of subsidies toward electrification, and the limitation of new fossil fuel infrastructure to avoid carbon lock-in.