The electricity demand created by artificial intelligence is usually presented as a simple supply problem. AI requires increasingly large data centers, those facilities consume enormous amounts of electricity, and utilities must somehow build enough power plants to serve them. The numbers appear to support the alarm. Data centers consumed around 485 terawatt-hours of electricity globally in 2025. The International Energy Agency expects this to rise to approximately 950 TWh by 2030, while consumption from AI-focused facilities could triple. Some…

Middle East turmoil, centered on the U.S. war with Iran, is playing havoc with world energy markets. An ongoing dispute over access to the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of world oil and natural gas supply is shipped, is causing prices to surge. This is a boon for South America's oil industry, particularly Suriname's emerging petroleum boom, which was delayed by conflicting drilling results and seismic data. The former Dutch colony is on the cusp of becoming South America's next major oil-producing nation. Since 2019, Suriname's government…

In line with greater funding for renewable energy and cleantech in recent years, several companies have sought to use innovative technologies and techniques to enhance clean energy production. Tech and energy startups from around the world have raised funds to test out a wide range of technologies aimed at accelerating the deployment of renewable energy capacity and enhancing the stability of certain energy sources, such as solar power. The California-based startup Reflect Orbital was recently granted permission from the United States Federal Communications…

Europe is falling far behind on energy storage installation exactly when it’s most needed. The continent’s energy security is under significant threat as it contends with its third energy crisis in four years thanks to the region’s over-reliance on imported fossil fuels. While the European Union has made major inroads toward adding solar and wind capacity to help diversify the bloc’s energy mix, energy storage capacities have lagged behind, creating new vulnerabilities for the grid and for energy markets alike. “Without…

Environmental groups have been campaigning to encourage banks and other financial institutions to divest from fossil fuels for years, with efforts growing stronger since the Covid-19 pandemic and the global push to transition away from oil, gas, and coal to renewable alternatives. In June, the Bank of England quietly announced that it would no longer be accepting bonds associated with coal operations for key loan arrangements. The ban will be enforced from October. It is the latest move to encourage a shift away from thermal coal for electricity…

Venture capitalists are taking a major interest in nuclear energy start ups. Funding is surging for both nuclear fusion and fission firms as the technology becomes an increasingly essential part of a feasible pathway toward sustainable energy security in the face of the artificial intelligence boom. According to reporting by Axios, global investment in both fission and fusion has topped USD $4.5 billion across 81 companies in 2026 so far. At this pace, by year’s end, this year will shatter 2025’s previous record of $6.2 billion for…

While the dust is settling and facts emerge, it is clear that the latest attack on Saudi Aramco's Abqaiq oil-processing complex is rapidly becoming one of the most consequential energy developments of 2026. The event should not be assessed on the basis that it has immediately removed millions of barrels of oil from international markets, but rather because it exposes a vulnerability that traders, governments, and investors have largely assumed no longer existed. At present, oil prices are not showing any real impact; levels are restrained. At the…

Donald Trump’s July 8 order to halt trade with Spain has yet to become an energy embargo, but Madrid can no longer dismiss it as political theatre. It was the second such threat since March 2026, this time delivered directly to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent after Spain refused to commit 5% of GDP to defence spending and declined to support US operations against Iran. Washington is now reportedly examining products that could be targeted, even though EU customs rules make it illegal to isolate one member state from the bloc’s common…

ExxonMobil and Chevron made a combined $26.5 billion in the second quarter after producing more oil, refining more fuel, and selling all of it into a market scrambled by war. Washington is investigating why gasoline costs so much. Chevron reported record net income of $12.2 billion, nearly five times its year-ago profit. Exxon earned $14.5 billion, double what it made during the same quarter last year and its best result since oil prices soared following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The Iran war sent crude prices sky high after Gulf production…

Kyrgyzstan’s election to a two-year term on the United Nations Security Council came after a diligent campaign to gain support for its candidacy. It means a Central Asian state will have a seat on the UN’s most powerful body for the second time since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Attention now turns to what Kyrgyzstan wants to do — and what it will be able to do — on the Security Council. “This is a new test for us,” Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov said during a speech in late June. “We view membership…