Efforts to deploy the right energy efficiency policies could see emissions peak quickly and then fall while the global economy doubles, says the IEA. Energy Efficiency 2018 finds that efficiency gains could allow the world to extract twice as much economic value from the energy it uses. This would reduce energy bills by more than $500 billion dollars a year, lower energy imports and cut air pollution. The report sets out a vision for 2040 with 60% more building space, 20% more people and double global GDP, while using only marginally more energy and cutting emissions by 12%.

CDP has updated its ranking of the world’s largest publicly listed oil and gas companies against their readiness for the low-carbon transition. Norway’s Equinor comes out top, with Total, Shell and Eni closely following. European companies come out on top, pivoting portfolios towards gas, setting climate-related targets and investing in low-carbon technologies. Since 2010, the 24 ranked companies have invested $22 billion in alternative energies, but spending on low-carbon assets for the sector as a whole will account for only 1.3% of total 2018 CAPEX.

Verified and current information on the full system-cost of electricity production and delivery, from the power plant to the wall socket is surprisingly hard to come by. Yet forging energy policy without this is like shooting in the dark. To shed light, researchers at the University of Texas have developed a comprehensive cost of energy methodology. One result is a colour coded map for the entire US: wind generation is cheapest where it is windy, solar cheapest where it sunny, with mainly gas filling in the gaps.