Fourth Power uses liquid tin and graphite to store electricity as high-temperature heat. The technology is cheaper and more space-saving than using huge lithium-ion batteries. Fourth Power plans to put a one-megawatt-hour system into operation at its new headquarters in Bedford, Massachusetts.
Renewable energy accounts for over one-third of the UKâs electricity, but intermittency is an ongoing issue. Batteries and grid-scale battery storage are becoming increasingly common. Flywheels are starting to appear as storage devices across the globe. Liquid air is a relatively new technology, first mooted seriously in the 1970s.
Batteries account for 28% of new U.S. power plant capacity built this year. The U.s. will be able to produce enough grid batteries to meet that surging demand on its own. By the end of this year, the U. S. will also achieve self-sufficiency in the higher-value part of the supply chain: the battery cells.
Renewable energy has overtaken coal to become the worldâs largest source of electricity in 2025, according to thinktank Ember. For the first time since 1919, the share of coal power was lower than that of renewables. Solar power generation grew by a record 636 terawatt hours (TWh) in 2025. Wind saw the second-largest increase in generation, growing 205TWh. Nuclear generation increased by 35 TWh to 2,812 TWh. The global electric vehicle fleet continued to grow, displacing 1.8m barrels per day (mbPD) of oil demand.
There are concerns about data centers raising electricity demand and power prices. Google plans to build a data center in Minnesota with solar panels, wind turbines and batteries that would be the worldâs largest electricity storage system with a power capacity of 300 megawatts. Data centers produce a lot of heat, which can be used to heat nearby buildings.
The world passed a significant turning point in 2025 as clean power generation rose faster than global demand for electricity. Renewable energy accounted for 34% of the worldâs total electricity generation last year. Global coal generation fell for the first time since 2020. The shift towards clean electricity is being propelled by developments in China and India.
Renewable energy technologies are getting cheaper and more reliable, but they are limited by geography, infrastructure, and politics. U.S. electricity demand is rising for the first time in a generation, and it will increase faster than new sources of power generation are coming online, which will push prices up.
CATL controls 37% of global market for EV batteries and 22% of world's energy storage system. It plans to double maritime applications division in order to pioneer early battery systems for near-shore vessels. International Maritime Organization aims to halve the industryâs share of global emissions from shipping to 1.5% from 3% by 2050.
Low-emissions energy sources met all new global electricity demand for the first time last year. Solar power, wind power and biofuels provided a record 42.6 percent of the 31,779 TWh of electricity the world consumed in 2025. Fossil fuels provided the majority, but 2025 marked a turning point after which their share will shrink.
The United States wants to put nuclear reactors in orbit and on the lunar surface by 2030. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration will work in conjunction with the Department of Defense and Department of Energy. The first designs should arrive within a year. Nuclear technology makes it possible to go farther, with more payload, for longer, and with fewer constraints.