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The Global Hydrogen Review is an annual publication by the International Energy Agency that tracks hydrogen production and demand worldwide, as well as progress in critical areas such as infrastructure development, trade, policy, regulation, investments and innovation.

The report is an output of the Clean Energy Ministerial Hydrogen Initiative and is intended to inform energy sector stakeholders on the status and future prospects of hydrogen, while also informing discussions at the Hydrogen Energy Ministerial Meeting organised by Japan. Focusing on hydrogen’s potentially major role in meeting international energy and climate goals, the Review aims to help decision makers fine-tune strategies to attract investment and facilitate deployment of hydrogen technologies at the same time as creating demand for hydrogen and hydrogen-based fuels. It compares real-world developments with the stated ambitions of government and industry.

This year’s report includes a focus on demand creation for low-emission hydrogen. Global hydrogen use is increasing, but demand remains so far concentrated in traditional uses in refining and the chemical industry and mostly met by hydrogen produced from unabated fossil fuels. To meet climate ambitions, there is an urgent need to switch hydrogen use in existing applications to low-emission hydrogen and to expand use to new applications in heavy industry or long-distance transport.

Female scientists and engineers pioneered the nuclear and radiological fields, with leaders and innovators such as Marie Skłodowska-Curie and Lise Meitner, among many others, establishing the foundation of modern nuclear science and technology. Women continue to make vital contributions to the sector, but their visibility and overall numbers in the sector remain limited, especially in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), and leadership roles. The lack of diversity in the sector represents a loss of potential innovation and growth and a critical threat to the viability of the field.

This report features the first publicly available international data on gender balance in the nuclear sector. The data was collected from over 8 000 women in the nuclear workforce in 32 countries, as well as human resources data from 96 nuclear organisations in 17 countries. Based on the findings, a comprehensive, evidence-driven policy framework is proposed with practical recommendations.

Pressure on the European and global gas markets has eased since the beginning of 2023 due to favourable weather conditions and timely policy actions. By the end of Q1 2023 European hub and Asian spot liquefied natural gas (LNG) prices had fallen below their summer 2021 levels, albeit remaining well above their historic averages. The steep decline in natural gas demand reduced the need for storage withdrawals in Europe and the United States over the 2022/23 winter. As a result, storage sites closed the heating season1 with inventory levels standing well above their five-year average. This is expected to reduce injection demand during the summer of 2023, and potentially ease market fundamentals.

The improved outlook for gas markets in 2023 is no guarantee against future volatility and should not be a distraction from measures to mitigate potential risks. Global gas supply is set to remain tight in 2023 and the global balance is subject to an unusually wide range of uncertainties. These include adverse weather factors, such as a dry summer or a cold Q4, lower availability of LNG and the possibility of a further decline in Russian pipeline gas deliveries to the European Union.

This new issue of the quarterly Gas Market Report provides an overview of recent gas market developments during the 2022/23 heating season, with a forecast for 2023.

Greece aims to reduce total greenhouse gas emissions by 55% by 2030 and reach net zero emissions by 2050. It has made notable progress towards meeting these targets. This includes significantly reducing its reliance on lignite and setting a binding target to end lignite-fired power generation by 2028 while working to ensure a just transition in its lignite mining regions and reducing energy poverty. Greece has also made strong progress on renewable energy, which covered 20% of its total final energy consumption in 2021.

Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Greece is reducing its reliance on Russian energy imports and ensuring secure access to energy by diversifying its supply and increasing domestic energy production.

Despite these notable successes, significant challenges remain. Fossil fuels still account for most of Greece’s energy use and stronger efforts are needed on energy efficiency.

n this report, the IEA provides a range of energy policy recommendations to help Greece smoothly manage its transition to a secure, efficient and flexible carbon neutral energy system.

The Global EV Outlook is an annual publication that identifies and discusses recent developments in electric mobility across the globe. It is developed with the support of the members of the Electric Vehicles Initiative (EVI).

This edition features analysis of the financial performance of EV-related companies, venture capital investments in EV-related technologies, and trade of electric vehicles. Finally, the report makes available two online tools: the Global EV Data Explorer and Global EV Policy Explorer, which allow users to interactively explore EV statistics and projections, and policy measures worldwide.Combining historical analysis with projections to 2030, the report examines key areas of interest such as electric vehicle and charging infrastructure deployment, battery demand, electricity consumption, oil displacement, greenhouse gas emissions and related policy developments. The report includes analysis of lessons learned from leading markets to inform policy makers and stakeholders about policy frameworks and market systems for electric vehicle adoption.

The world remains far off track to reach universal access to electricity by 2030 – a key target canonised in UN Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG7). While many countries have set targets to advance universal electrification, it remains challenging to collect timely data on their progress, making it difficult to build or refine their electrification plans and policy strategies.

To provide governments with the tools to achieve their goals, the Guidebook for Improved Electricity Access Statistics (hereafter “Guidebook”) focuses on methodologies using readily available supply-side data from electric utilities, mini-grid operators, and off-grid system distributors to track access to electricity trends. This approach can be adopted at a low-cost and provides accurate estimates on access rates with a potential time lag on the order of months, instead of years. Supply-side data complements household or census surveys, which can give a more nuanced, detailed picture, but are typically only run every five to ten years due to their expense.

This report provides step-by-step guidelines on how to implement an improved supply-side data collection process, and produce more time-sensitive and comprehensive access to electricity indicators. In addition, the Guidebook proposes a standard method to capture mini-grids and stand-alone off-grid systems in calculating access to electricity, which are becoming increasingly more commonplace in strategies to reach universal access. Finally, the Guidebook suggests further steps practitioners can take to advance geospatial data collection and reporting, which has become the new best practice for electrification planning supporting both electric utilities and the vibrant off-grid industry.

This policy makers manual is prepared under the framework of the Global Environment Facility programme aimed at supporting low- and middle-income economies in their transition to electric mobility. It aims to serve as a guide for policy makers to effectively integrate electric vehicle charging into the grid, thereby supporting road transport electrification and decarbonisation.

The key steps can be summarised as preparing institutions for the shift to electric mobility, assessing the impacts on the grid, deploying measures for grid integration and improving power system planning. Each of these steps is informed by insights from various studies and inputs from international stakeholders, with recommendations based on best practices from around the world.

The Global Hydrogen Review is an annual publication by the International Energy Agency that tracks hydrogen production and demand worldwide, as well as progress in critical areas such as infrastructure development, trade, policy, regulation, investments and innovation.

The report is an output of the Clean Energy Ministerial Hydrogen Initiative and is intended to inform energy sector stakeholders on the status and future prospects of hydrogen while also informing discussions at the Hydrogen Energy Ministerial Meeting organised by Japan. Focusing on hydrogen’s potentially major role in meeting international energy and climate goals, this year’s Review aims to help decision makers fine-tune strategies to attract investment and facilitate deployment of hydrogen technologies while also creating demand for hydrogen and hydrogen-based fuels. It compares real-world developments with the stated ambitions of government and industry.

This year’s report includes a special focus on how the global energy crisis sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has accelerated the momentum behind hydrogen and on the opportunities that it offers to simultaneously contribute to decarbonisation targets and enhance energy security.

This year’s winter gas season opens with extreme natural gas price levels and volatility, caused by unprecedented uncertainty of supply as Russia steeply curtails its pipeline deliveries to Europe. The result is considerable market tension in alternative sources of supply. Security of supply has become a top priority in Europe and other importing regions as a total cut-off in Russian flows to Europe cannot be ruled out, creating further tensions and demand destruction for all competing LNG importers.

The gas crisis triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has caused a series of market adjustments. European buyers have strongly increased their LNG procurement, resulting in market tightening and demand destruction in various importing regions. This has also had a visible impact on LNG contracting behaviours, with a return to more traditional features such as fixed-destination and longer-duration contracts. The European Union, whose member states are directly exposed to the threat of further supply cuts, has adopted a number of measures to enhance security of supply and market resilience ahead of the coming winter.

This quarterly report includes the IEA’s annual Global Gas Security Review and an analysis of short-term gas market evolution to 2023.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has exacerbated the tightening supply of natural gas underway since mid-2021, further pushing up prices for consumers and leading to fuel switching and demand destruction. It also casts longer-term uncertainty on market prospects for natural gas, especially in developing markets where it was to play a central role in energy transitions.

Natural gas demand is expected to decline in 2022 and remain subdued up to 2025. Europe’s surging pursuit of LNG to phase out Russian pipeline supply and limited global LNG export capacity additions raise the risk of prolonged tight markets. Faster development and implementation of clean energy transition policies, especially in mature gas markets, would ease price competition and help emerging markets access supplies that can contribute to short-term improvements in carbon intensity and air quality.

This new issue of the Gas Market Report offers a medium-term forecast and analysis of global gas markets to 2025, as well as a review of recent developments in major regional gas markets during the first half of 2022.

The Global EV Outlook is an annual publication that identifies and discusses recent developments in electric mobility across the globe. It is developed with the support of the members of the Electric Vehicles Initiative (EVI).

Combining historical analysis with projections to 2030, the report examines key areas of interest such as electric vehicle and charging infrastructure deployment, energy use, CO2 emissions, battery demand and related policy developments. The report includes policy recommendations that incorporate lessons learned from leading markets to inform policy makers and stakeholders with regard to policy frameworks and market systems for electric vehicle adoption.

This edition features an in-depth assessment of the EV battery supply chain and reviews government targets and strategies in this area. It assesses charging infrastructure development targets in key regions. A section on the integration of EVs into the distribution grid is also included. Finally, the report makes available two online tools: the Global EV Data Explorer and Global EV Policy Explorer, which allow users to interactively explore EV statistics and projections, and policy measures worldwide.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has triggered a major energy supply and security crisis that has sent commodity prices to new highs, with wider implications for the global economy.The conflict has put further considerable pressure on natural gas markets and raised uncertainty in the context of an already tight market. Europe has been at the epicentre of market tensions since the beginning of the heating season, resulting from the combination of lower than average underground storage inventory – principally from sites partly owned or controlled by Gazprom – and a sharp year-on-year drop in Russian pipeline supplies. Lower Russian supplies have largely been compensated by LNG, turning Europe into the premium market and drawing cargoes away from Asia Pacific and other regions. The resulting tight supply, high prices, and heightened market uncertainty have led to a downward revision in global gas consumption growth, which as a result is expected to turn negative for 2022.This new issue of the quarterly Gas Market Report features a detailed review of 2021’s gas supply and demand fundamentals, an analysis of recent developments in global gas markets during the northern hemisphere’s heating season, and an updated near-term outlook for 2022.

Global natural gas consumption rebounded by 4.6% in 2021, more than double the decline seen in 2020. The strong demand growth in 2021 was driven by the economic recovery that followed the previous year’s lockdowns and by a succession of extreme weather events. Supply did not keep pace which, combined with unexpected outages, led to tight markets and steep price increases, putting the brakes on demand growth in the second half of 2021.

The year closed with record high spot prices in Europe and Asia, as natural gas supply remained very tight. The direction of short-term demand will depend on the weather during the rest of the northern hemisphere’s heating season. Assuming normal temperatures, growth of the natural gas market is expected to be slowed by higher gas prices and softer economic expansion, while supply tensions may ease as offline capacity gradually returns. The exceptionally high gas (and by extension electricity) prices are likely to have an impact beyond just northern markets and the current season, with some ripple effects in both mature and emerging gas importing markets already visible.

This new issue of the quarterly Gas Market Report includes an overview of the main market highlights for 2021, and an analysis of recent gas market developments with a forecast for 2022.

The Global EV Outlook is an annual publication that identifies and discusses recent developments in electric mobility across the globe. It is developed with the support of the members of the Electric Vehicles Initiative (EVI).

Combining historical analysis with projections to 2030, the report examines key areas of interest such as electric vehicle (EV) and charging infrastructure deployment, energy use, CO2 emissions and battery demand. The report includes policy recommendations that incorporate learning from frontrunner markets to inform policy makers and stakeholders that consider policy frameworks and market systems for electric vehicle adoption.

This edition also features an update of the electric heavy-duty vehicle models coming onto commercial markets and slotted for release in the coming few years, and on the status of development of megachargers. It compares the electric vehicle supply equipment per EV with the recommended AFID targets. It also analyses the impact of EV uptake on governments’ revenue from fuel taxation. Finally, it makes available for the first time two online tools: the Global EV Data Explorer and Global EV Policy Explorer, which allow users to interactively explore EV statistics and projections, and policy measures worldwide.

The Global Hydrogen Review is a new annual publication by the International Energy Agency to track progress in hydrogen production and demand, as well as in other critical areas such as policy, regulation, investments, innovation and infrastructure development.

The report is an output of the Clean Energy Ministerial Hydrogen Initiative (CEM H2I) and is intended to inform energy sector stakeholders on the status and future prospects of hydrogen while serving as an input to the discussions at the Hydrogen Energy Ministerial Meeting (HEM) organised by Japan. It examines what international progress on hydrogen is needed to help address climate change – and compares real-world developments with the stated ambitions of government and industry and with key actions under the Global Action Agenda launched at the HEM in 2019.

Focusing on hydrogen’s usefulness for meeting climate goals, this Review aims to help decision makers fine-tune strategies to attract investment and facilitate deployment of hydrogen technologies while also creating demand for hydrogen and hydrogen-based fuels.

Winter 2021/22 opens with record high seasonal gas prices, as the combination of a strong recovery in demand, extreme weather events and unplanned supply outages have led to tighter markets. Such tensions are a reminder that security of supply remains a major topic for gas markets, only a year after a record drop in demand and oversupplied markets.

The succession of market events over the past year further illustrates the critical role flexibility plays in ensuring security and continuity of supply. Flexible liquefied natural gas trade – alongside other major components of the gas flexibility toolbox such as interconnectors and storage capacity – has been and remains instrumental to adjusting to sharp and unexpected demand swings (both up and down). Delivering flexible and yet secure supply is likely to become more complex for systems in transition as they switch to low-carbon gas to reach net zero emission objectives. Regulators should therefore adopt a prudent and scalable approach to market design to ensure security of supply in a transitioning gas system.

This new quarterly report includes a review of gas security in light of recent supply-related developments, and an analysis of short-term gas market evolution to 2022.

Natural gas markets started off the year with a strong rebound, supported by a combination of recovering economic activity in most markets along with a series of weather-related events – cold spells in Q1 followed by colder or drier than average temperatures in Q2. Rising demand in 2021 is expected to offset 2020’s decline and even grow further with an anticipated 3.6% annual increase.

Demand growth is, however, not expected to maintain this pace in the medium term, but rather to slow to an average 1.7% annual rate for the 2022-2024 period, equally driven by economic activity and fuel switching from coal and oil. This slower growth may still be too high to match a net-zero emissions path, which requires higher substitution rates and efficiency gains – especially in mature markets, where most of the switching potential from coal and oil to gas has already been realised.

This new quarterly report offers a medium-term forecast and analysis of global gas markets to 2024, as well as a review of recent developments in major regional gas markets during the first half of 2021.

After a record drop in global demand of about 75 billion cubic metres (bcm) in 2020, natural gas markets experienced significant supply-demand tensions in the initial months of 2021. Colder-than-expected temperatures and tighter supply led to price rallies and spikes, first in Northeast Asia in January and then in North America in February.

These winter storms provided some short-term support to natural gas demand, but market fundamentals for 2021 remain fragile. Global gas demand is expected to recover to its 2019 level, but with uncertainties regarding the recovery trajectory in fast-growing markets as compared to more mature regions, while sectoral demand is subject to a variety of risk factors including a slow rebound in economic activity and fuel switching.

This new quarterly report offers a detailed review of 2020’s gas supply and demand fundamentals and figures, an analysis of recent developments in global gas markets during the northern hemisphere’s heating season, and an updated near-term outlook for 2021.