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Electricity demand will rise much faster than overall energy growth in the coming decades, underscoring the need for diversified energy sources, according to an analysis released Wednesday. The report by the International Energy Agency said renewable energy, led by solar power, will grow faster than any other major source in the next few years and that coal and oil demand will likely peak globally by the end of this decade. The report noted that many natural gas projects were approved in 2025, due to changes in U.S. policy, indicating worldwide supply will rise even as questions remain about how it will be used. Meanwhile, global nuclear power capacity is set to increase by at least a third by 2035 after being stagnant for years. The release of the annual World Energy Outlook coincided with U.N. climate negotiations in Brazil this week, where global leaders are calling for ways to curb the planet’s warming. Regional dynamics The IEA says building greater resilience in energy systems is especially important as data centers, heating and cooling, electrification, and more drive energy demand. Investment in data centers is expected to reach $580 billion this year, exceeding investment in the oil supply, according to the report. Growing economies including India and nations in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America, will increasingly shape energy market dynamics in the years, the IEA said, noting their potential for solar power. China, meanwhile, has accounted for half the global growth in demand for oil and gas, and more than half for electricity, since 2010. In a break from the trend of the past decade, the increase in electricity consumption is no longer limited to emerging and developing economies, IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said in a release. Birol said that electricity use is also rising in advanced economies. Nations are grappling with meeting demand while preparing for the risks brought on by the planets warming. The IEA says the world is falling short on universal energy access and climate change goals. Around 730 million people still live without electricity, according to the IEA, and despite progress, nearly one-quarter of the global population still relies on inefficient cooking methods that hurt their health or the environment. 2024 was also the hottest year on record. Nations should diversify their energy sources and cooperate to expand supply chains for critical minerals used to make things like batteries for electric vehicles and components for solar and wind power generation, the IEA said. This also includes making quick improvements to the grid, energy storage and broader infrastructure. When we look at the history of the energy world in recent decades, there is no other time when energy security tensions have applied to so many fuels and technologies at once, Birol said. With energy security front and (center) for many governments, their responses need to consider the synergies and trade-offs that can arise with other policy goals on affordability, access, competitiveness and climate change. In a conference call Wednesday, Birol said: We will still use oil, we will still use gas. But the growth of electricity demand is spectacular. He noted the role transportation plays in accounting for 45% of global oil consumption, for example. How the electrification of the transportation takes place, especially in countries beyond China and Europe, will determine the shape of the oil demand and growth. Global reaction Wednesday’s edition of the yearly report is the first released since the start of U.S. President Donald Trumps second term. Trump’s administration has for a second time opted out of the Paris agreement, rolled back dozens of climate regulations, slashed federal support for renewable energies such as wind and solar power, and is reversing the endangerment finding that sits at the core of U.S. climate policy. Trump has pledged his support instead to the fossil fuel industry, investing in coal and loosening restrictions on pollution. But energy analysts said the shift to clean power is happening regardless of climate policy around the world. The evidence on the ground is overwhelming. EV sales are taking off in many emerging countries, solar is permeating even through the Middle East, said Dave Jones, chief analyst at global energy think tank Ember. “Renewables and electrification will dominate the future. Maria Pastukhova, energy transition program lead at climate change think tank E3G, said the report makes the choices for the global energy system and the global economy unambiguous. If countries want to grow their economies and protect their citizens from roller-coaster energy prices, they need to focus relentlessly on energy efficiency and the (decarbonization) of energy demand, Pastukhova said. Others, however, were critical of how the outlook addressed oil and gas. Ben Backwell, CEO of the Global Wind Energy Council, said the outlook does not fully capture the momentum in renewables, and that it should have emphasized the trajectory for renewable energy is accelerating, driven by the decreasing cost of the technologies, strong policy support and the move toward electrification. Were accelerating, he added. You can see it all around the world and we can see it in our numbers for last year, but also in our numbers for the first half of this year. It looks very, very exciting, both for wind and for solar, in fact, and for next year, even more so. The outlook foresees the likelihood of surpassing the warming threshold of 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) established in the Paris Agreement. Nonetheless, Stephan Singer, global energy senior advisor at CAN International, a global network of environmental organizaions, said getting below that point is still possible. The IEA addressed some of the criticism in the call Wednesday. It said that it sees differences economically, politically, and with regard to clean energy efforts across the globe, and that its analysis tries to account for those differences. In a nutshell, the IEA is backsliding. As a global think tank, the IEA has largely failed to represent where most countries in the (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) and the developing world are, as theyre supporting net zero emissions with 98% CO2 emissions reductions by mid-century,” Singer said. Alexa St. John, Associated Press climate reporter Associated Press reporters Jennifer McDermott and Sibi Arasu contributed to this report. The Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find APs standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.
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E-Commerce
Watch out, Dr. Pepper: Mr. Pibb is in the house. After almost 25 years, Coca-Cola announced in late October that its bringing back Mr. Pibb, its spicy cherry soda that first launched in 1972. If you were born after the turn of the century, chances are you may have never seen a can of Mr. Pibb. That’s because, in 2001, Coca-Cola renamed and rebranded the drink to Pibb Xtra, and its remained largely untouched since then. Now, Coca-Cola is giving Mr. Pibb another chance. The company is reformulating the beverage, adding extra caffeine, and giving the entire brand a makeover. Its new branding is a combination of burgundy, red, and black, complete with an eye-catching gold exclamation point and a few subtle callbacks to Mr. Pibb’s ’90s look. Mr. Pibb will fully replace Pibb Xtra across the U.S. by 2026, according to A.P. Chaney, Coca-Colas head of creative for sparkling flavors. Mr. Pibbs big return is Coca-Colas bid to cash in on the spicy cherry beverage category, which Chaney says is now the third-largest sparkling soft drink sector. With its added caffeine content, Mr. Pibb is also playing into the current interest in functional beveragesand the brand itself is adding a distinctly bold new voice to Coca-Colas portfolio. [Image: The Coca-Cola Company] A new, highly caffeinated contender enters the chat Growing up in the 90s, Chaney remembers watching Mr. Pibb commercials on TV. Now that the spicy cherry segment is trending up, she says, it felt like the perfect time to introduce a new generation to the soda millenials and Gen Xers remember from yesteryear. But the flavor profile isn’t quite the same as what it once was, either. Mr. Pibbs new formulation is a bolder version of what Pibb Xtra was, according to Chaney. The drinkwhich will come in both regular and zero sugar iterationsis an intense cherry flavor layered with notes of caramel. The real change to the drinks composition is its added caffeine: Mr. Pibb will come with 30% more caffeine than Pibb Xtra, at 54 milligrams of caffeine per serving (about the same as a cup of coffee). Its a move that reflects the fact that functional has become something of a buzzword in the beverage industry, wherein add-ins like prebiotics, adaptogens, and caffeine serve as added selling points for bringing a certain beverage into a customer’s daily routine. The caffeine is going to be a differentiator, specifically in this spicy cherry segment, Chaney says. [Image: The Coca-Cola Company] Coca-Cola spices up Mr. Pibbs The brands new look and voice are intended to call back to Mr. Pibbs original identity, while also bringing new soda drinkers into the fold. Mr. Pibbs chunky, bold font is a reference to its 90s eras cans. Its burgundy, cherry red, and black color palette is also pulled from the brands original packaging. But one of the most striking elements of the can design is entirely new: a bright gold exclamation point in place of the i in Pibb, which Chaney explains is specifically engineered to grab shoppers attention in stores. We were really trying to cue what makes sense: Like, is it a formal Mr. Pibb or is it just Mr. Pibb, the homie? There were all these different personas we were trying to figure out, Chaney says. That comes through in the fontMr. Pibb feels more accommodating and amicable in terms of the logo, but then you have the jagged edges that make it rebellious and bold, so you’re kind of bringing in these two different personalities. Mr. Pibb is a brand thats not afraid to mess around and crack a few jokesand thats how fans can expect it to show up going forward. [Image: The Coca-Cola Company] Coca-Cola is for everyone, as it should be, and it’s about uplift and it’s a beautiful and historic brand, Chaney says. Mr. Pibb is a challenger, and it’s an up-and-comer. We have more room to play in terms of how we show up and where we show up. We can make mistakes in ways that other brands can’t outside of Coca-Cola. Plenty of brands are actually playing into some level of marketing brashness lately, in a trend that Fast Company has previously termed “DGAF branding.” In an era when platforms like Instagram Reels and TikTok are both shortening our attention spans and informing our collective senses of humor, it makes sense for brands like Nutte Butter, Duolingo, and Sour Patch Kids to take a few risks with their positioning. It’s rarer to see a major legacy brand like Coca-Cola play into these internet-informed trendsand, to be clear, Mr. Pibb’s marketing is fairly tame compared to the aforementioned examples. Still, the Mr. Pibbs rebrand is clearly tapping into the zeitgeist by embracing a more unexpected sense of humor. [Image: The Coca-Cola Company] That spicy brand personality shines in a series of new ads for the soda. The team turned to old Mr. Pibb adswhich had a bold tone and often included the slogan, Mr. Pibb: Put it in your headfor inspiration. Chaney says that while most soda ads today focus solely on getting viewers to fall in love with the liquid, Coca-Cola wanted Mr. Pibb to have a bit more personality. She describes the spots tone as like if Reese’s and Arbys had a baby. In one spot with more than five million views on YouTube, narrated by actor Roy Wood, shots of Mr. Pibb are accompanied with the voiceover, Most sodas call it at a reasonable hour. Thats when Mr. Pibb is just getting started. When Mr. Pibb texts, U up? its not a questionits a promise. Mr. Pibb, apparently, is a soda brand thats not afraid to send a casual booty call.
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E-Commerce
Three paintings from famously chill public television legend Bob Ross sold Tuesday for more than $600,000 at auction. The paintings were the first of 30 Ross works being sold to benefit public TV stations hurt by cuts in federal funding.At the live auction at Bonhams in Los Angeles, a serene, snow vista called “Winter’s Peace” that Ross painted entirely during a 1993 episode of “The Joy of Painting” went for $318,000 to a bidder on the phone.“For a good cause and you get the painting,” auctioneer Aaron Bastian said during the bidding. He invoked a common sentiment of Ross, who died in 1995, during a brief lull. “Bob would remind you that this is your world, and you can do anything you want.”Another painting done on a 1993 episode, a lush, green landscape called “Home in the Valley,” went for $229,100. A third, “Cliffside,” sold for $114,800.The final prices include a charge for the auction house added to the final bid known as the buyer’s premium. The identities of the buyers weren’t immediately revealed.Bids for all three paintings went well past pre-auction estimates of their value, which topped out around $50,000.Three more Ross paintings will be up for auction at Bonhams in Marlborough, Massachusetts, on Jan. 27, with others to follow in New York and London.All profits are pledged to stations that use content from distributor American Public Television.Ross, a public television staple in the 1980s and ’90s, was known for his dome of hair and warm demeanor.The special sales seek to help stations in need of licensing fees that allow them to show popular programs that along with Ross’ show include “America’s Test Kitchen,” “Julia Child’s French Chef Classics,” and “This Old House.” Small and rural stations are particularly challenged.The stations “have been the gateway for generations of viewers to discover not just Bob’s gentle teaching, but the transformative power of the arts,” Joan Kowalski, president of Bob Ross Inc., said in a statement.As sought by the Trump Administration, Congress has eliminated $1.1 billion allocated to public broadcasting, leaving about 330 PBS and 246 NPR stations.Ross died at age 52 of complications from cancer after 11 years in production with the therapeutic how-to show, “The Joy of Painting.” The former Air Force drill sergeant was a sort of pioneer, known for his calm and calming manner and encouraging words.Ross spoke often as he worked on air about painting happy little clouds and trees, and making no mistakes, only “happy accidents.”He has only became more popular in the decades since his death, and his shows saw a surge in popularity during the lockdowns of the COVID-19 pandemic. Andrew Dalton, AP Entertainment Writer
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