25 JUNE 2026
Whilst the direction of travel appears clearly in favour of renewables, fossil fuels are not disappearing anytime soon.
Global electricity demand continues to rise sharply, driven by the AI boom, surging electric vehicle use and a strategic imperative for most Governments to become less reliant on volatile oil-producing regions.
But the energy transition away from oil and gas is unlikely to be linear, if for no other reason than green energy is currently unable to satisfy demand.
This is shown clearly in the chart below.
Whilst wind, solar and nuclear now feature as sources of China’s electricity production, the vast majority remains driven by fossil fuels.
Coal alone represents over 50% of the total share.
Meaning legacy energy markets are likely to remain a key source of volatility for the global economy, and financial markets more generally, for some time to come.
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