Electrifying low-temperature industrial heat and steam processes with renewables could reduce European Union natural gas consumption by 35 billion cubic metres-per-year, according to a report from the International Energy Agency (IEA).

According to IEA and BloombergNEF, battery storage was the most invested-in energy tech, with biggest-ever growth in deployments recorded.

This Friday Briefing looks at the IEA’s recognition that long-duration energy storage will be essential to global decarbonisation and asks what it might take for that message to translate into immediate action.

The European Commission, along with governments of Australia, the US and Canada, have backed a new initiative to promote battery storage.

Only half of the energy storage needed to properly integrate the potential solar PV additions globally by 2030 will be deployed based on current policies, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in its World Energy Outlook report for 2023.

Uptick in energy storage investment in region still largely powered by coal, experiencing population and energy demand growth.

The Solar Media podcast is back for another episode, and Liam Stoker and Andy Colthorpe explores the deepening materials crisis impacting upstream solar manufacturing, through from modules to trackers.