World is now in ‘age of electricity’, energy agency chief says at Cop31

Exclusive: Fossil fuels no longer dominant energy source, IEA leader says, as summit considers electrification pledge

The world has left behind the age of coal, oil and gas and is now firmly in “the age of electricity”, the world’s leading energy economist has said.

Fatih Birol, the executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), said more than twice as much electricity generation would be added to the global economy in the next decade than in the last, as countries scramble to secure their energy supplies against fossil fuel price volatility and supply shocks, such as the Iran war.