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ISSN 2753-7757 (Online)

Features

Electricity markets

Close up of smart meter display with index finger of a hand pressing one of the operating buttons

1/10/2025 Feature / Janet Wood

The clock is ticking on transformation to a flexible electricity system

The UK’s electricity sector is working towards a complete transformation of the settlement process in the back office. The outcome could offer radically improved consumer propositions from next year, writes Janet Wood.

Shipping

Aerial view of ship at sea, carrying containers

1/10/2025 Feature / Brian Davis

Sailing towards net zero: shipping advised to pool carbon-neutral fuel demand

October 2025 is the deadline for adoption of the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) Net-Zero Framework (NZF), aimed to ensure that international shipping can meet carbon neutral greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050. A timely report, just released by Swiss marine technology firm Accelleron, hopes to galvanise action and asks: ‘What’s stopping shipping’s carbon neutral fuel transition?’ New Energy World Features Editor Brian Davis reports.

Access to energy

Various metal saucepans with food in, set on floor in front of an open charcoal fired stove with a black pan on top, cooking food, with a small stool also in the foreground

1/10/2025 Feature / Charlie Bush

What’s cooking? LPG and the clean cooking challenge in sub-Saharan Africa

Almost one-third of the world’s population, around 2.3 billion people, still rely on open fires or rudimentary stoves to prepare meals. In sub-Saharan Africa, four out of five people cook with wood, charcoal, animal dung or agricultural waste. Charlie Bush considers some of the options available for cleaner cooking, in particular the role of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) as a transitional energy solution.

Artificial Intelligence

Close up photo of a rectangular computer processing unit with a row of three circular fans

24/9/2025 Feature / Toby Clark

How much energy does AI actually consume?

There are serious concerns about the energy consumption of AI systems – in particular large language models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT. We know they use a lot of energy during training – the process by which the millions or billions of parameters in the model ingest and analyse data. Apparently, training OpenAI’s GPT-4 (with well over a trillion parameters) consumed over 50 GWh of electricity. Toby Clark asks, how much energy do they use to answer your queries?

Energy storage

Computer generated image of an industrial facility with lots of pipework and rectangular and cylindrical units

24/9/2025 Feature / Andrew Mourant

Weeding out the duds: what’s driving growth of long-duration energy storage in the UK

A big breakthrough or just another small forward step? One key part of the UK government’s drive to hit net zero targets is by boosting national energy storage to help smooth out gaps between supply of intermittent renewables and variation in electricity demand. In spring 2025, energy regulator Ofgem announced plans to incentivise the best schemes while weeding out the no-hopers. The industry is still digesting how this might work out to everyone’s benefit, reports Andrew Mourant.

Onshore wind

Aerial view of a crane attaching the third blade to a wind turbine being built in green field

10/9/2025 Feature / Charlie Bush

Shifting gears: onshore wind in Northern Europe

Between 2023 and 2024, Europe increased its onshore wind capacity from 235.4 GW to 248 GW, according to the Energy Institute’s latest Statistical Review of World Energy. Wind now accounts for 20% of the Continent’s electricity consumption, exceeding 30% in Denmark, Ireland, Sweden, Germany and the UK, says WindEurope. This renewables’ contribution offsets the need to import 100bn m³/y of fossil fuels. Charlie Bush looks at what’s driving a gale of onshore wind developments in Northern Europe.

Solar

Close up of silhouetted hands and wrists manacled with with chains, raised in the air, set against orange and yellow sunset sky

16/7/2025 Feature / Jens Kastner

Why forced labour claims still cloud the international solar supply chain

As the Chinese government seeks an interim commerce deal with the US, the country’s solar power supply chain will be hoping long-standing allegations about using forced labour will not throw additional obstacles in the way of trade, writes Jens Kastner.

District heating

Big dark silver piping forming part of heat pump installation in basement of building

17/9/2025 Feature / Nnamdi Anyadike

Regulatory support boosts district heating networks

A wave of new district heating projects across the UK and Europe are coming online or being advanced on the back of a new impetus by regulators. Nnamdi Anyadike reports.

Skills, education and training

Close up of a student in bright yellow t-shirt, sat at a long desk, with a row of other students sat along a long desk opposite in the background

24/9/2025 Feature / Promise Chukwukadibia Nwogu

An internship model to close Africa’s green skills gap

As the world races towards net zero, Africa’s transition must not only be rapid but just. With the right approach, young Africans will drive this just transition for themselves. An example of that is a new internship model, piloted in 2025, whose low-cost design, adaptability to different geographies and partial cost-recovery mechanism through employer reimbursements make it a candidate for replication across Africa, writes founder Promise Chukwukadibia Nwogu.

Road transport

View along tram lines under construction, with city buildings along the lines on the left hand side of the picture

17/9/2025 Feature / Richard Simpson

The tram versus e-bus debate: rails or rubber?

When it comes to urban passenger transport, which is more energy-efficient: bus or tram? As Richard Simpson finds out, the answers are far from clear-cut.

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