The global clean energy sector enters 2025 at a critical inflection point. Political shifts, technological leaps, and surging energy demand from AI are reshaping investment dynamics across renewables, storage, bioenergy, and carbon removal. This paper offers a sweeping yet incisive preview of the policies, markets, and megatrends that will define clean energy deployment in the year ahead.

Key Takeaways:

Asia Steps Up as U.S. Retreats: With a Republican-led U.S. scaling back climate ambition, China is accelerating decarbonisation—cutting new coal permits, expanding EVs, and driving global cost reductions in solar, storage and clean tech manufacturing.

AI’s Quiet Energy Revolution: Hyperscalers are fueling explosive demand for clean, always-on power. Forecasts suggest AI could drive up to 10% of U.S. electricity consumption by 2030—powering new opportunities in PPAs, long-duration storage and geothermal.

CDR & Bioenergy Get a Boost: With global carbon markets advancing post-COP 29, carbon dioxide removal (CDR) credits are entering the mainstream. EU antidumping tariffs are also lifting European bioenergy economics, with biomethane and RNG gaining ground.

Geothermal Re-emerges as Baseload Leader: Low-cost, dispatchable, and now more policy-supported, geothermal energy is positioned to meet AI’s base load demands and decarbonise urban heat networks across the UK, EU, and beyond.

Policy Watch: UK’s 2030 Clean Power Plan, EU’s Clean Industrial Deal, and China’s Green Pivot: Regulatory momentum is strongest outside the U.S., with the UK committing to a near-zero grid by 2030 and China enshrining hydrogen, renewables, and storage in law for the first time.