Energy & Decarbonization

Silicon-based solar technologies continue to dominate the market; however, there is rising interest in an emerging technology known as perovskite. Perovskites have the potential to enhance existing silicon solar supplies, but which applications can perovskite solar be used for, and how will it compete in a market dominated by an already well-established technology?

IDTechEx forecasts that by 2035, the global data center sector will have saved US$150 billion by using low-carbon energy sources compared to a fossil fuel scenario (taking 2024 as the baseline). Some emerging energy technologies expected to play an increasingly important role are explored in this article.

As growing numbers of countries identify critical materials within their economies, the ability to recycle them is becoming increasingly important, especially considering both their economic importance and ongoing supply risks. Sustainability goals rely on growing technology sectors like electric vehicles, which rely on magnets to be manufactured, ultimately meaning sourcing and recycling critical materials is an economic necessity to keep supply chains running.

Thursday 20 February 2025 - Data Center Energy Use Exceeds Sweden's Annual Consumption, Driving Demand for Sustainable Technologies; Energy consumption overview; Regional regulations and hyperscalers' actions and targets; Scope 2: Power generation technology benchmarking and cost analysis; Scope 2: Energy efficiency trend of data center IT, thermal and electrical components; Scope 3 decarbonization technologies; Market size forecast of carbon-free energy for data center and future opportunities

Biofuels and e-fuels have been on the rise as many sectors worldwide aim to increase sustainability, with traditional aviation using fossil-based jet fuel contributing around 2.5% of global CO₂ emissions. Conventional aviation fuel (Jet A-1) can now be blended with or replaced by new sustainable fuel derived from biomass or electricity. The main advantage of these replacement fuels is repurposing waste products from other industries into useful products, with SAF reducing flight emissions from its production to end use, anywhere from 30% to 90% in best-case scenarios.

Scope 3 emissions (indirect greenhouse gas emissions that occur in a company's value chain but are not produced by the company itself) are hard to quantify and even harder for businesses to reduce. The embodied carbon from construction can often be a significant contributor, with most of this CO2 coming from the cement used. This article explores three new green cement solutions that are increasingly enabling companies to decrease scope 3 CO2 emissions.

The stationary fuel cell market is set to reach US$8bn by 2035. In this short video, IDTechEx Technology Analyst Maia Benstead talks through the dominant technologies, the alternatives competing for market share and the application areas for stationary fuel cells.

Thursday 6 February 2025 - Will Perovskite Photovoltaics Be the Next Generation Solar Technology? Discuss perovskite PV, including the main technologies; single junction/thin-film perovskite, perovskite/silicon tandem and all-perovskite tandem PV; Detail the major application areas driving the uptake of perovskite PV, along with the major players targeting its production; Outline the emerging material trends for perovskite PV, including overcoming stability issues, manufacturing methods, and the latest major research developments; Overview the key perovskite PV trends for the next decade

With growing concerns over energy security due to rising power demands and greater decarbonization targets, stationary fuel cells have garnered attention as alternative green power generation devices. But with various sectors aiming for decarbonization, which fuel cells will fit the mark, and which applications will be key to their success?

A free collection of insights from our industry experts, sharing some of the key technology innovation trends shaping the next decade.