Europe’s energy and transport landscape is being reshaped by fast-moving market responses, falling battery costs, and growing scrutiny of long-term infrastructure investments. From trade policy and power pricing to electric mobility and nuclear economics, these developments highlight how technology, regulation, and cost dynamics are increasingly intertwined.

The UK government’s Planning and Infrastructure Act has now passed into law, allowing its reforms to begin taking effect. The legislation is intended to reduce delays in the planning system and speed up the delivery of major infrastructure, including energy projects critical to the UK’s electricity system.

Energy systems continue to shift at remarkable speed, from labour demand in clean power to the rapid scaling of storage, home batteries, and renewables. New data highlights falling costs for solar-plus-storage, the accelerating dominance of LFP batteries, the economic pressures facing gas networks, and fresh insights into global resource wealth.

Britain’s electricity system took a major step toward accelerating clean energy buildout today as the National Energy System Operator (NESO) announced a new pipeline of “deliverable, shovel-ready” projects that will be prioritised for grid connection. The reforms are designed to break the long-standing grid bottleneck and help unlock around £40 billion in clean energy investment every year, supporting the government’s Clean Power by 2030 target.

The UK Government has confirmed that from April 2028, electric vehicles will face a new per-mile tax as part of reforms to the motoring tax system. The rate will be 3p per mile for battery-electric cars and 1.5p for plug-in hybrids, increasing each year with inflation. While the change brings EVs into the mainstream tax framework, it also prompts a broader debate: is a flat per-mile charge the right model for a country pursuing ambitious climate targets?

Energy, technology, and climate systems are becoming increasingly intertwined, and the latest developments show how physical infrastructure and material supply chains now sit at the center of global competition. From the resource demands of AI to accelerating storage deployment and shifting oil consumption patterns, these stories highlight the forces reshaping power systems, transportation, and climate risk in real time.

Australia’s clean energy system is undergoing rapid change, and the latest Quarterly Carbon Market Report from the Clean Energy Regulator (CER) shows a country in transition. Renewable generation is hitting repeated records, home batteries are being installed faster than expected, and the grid is becoming cleaner year after year.

Britain’s energy regulator has approved a major wave of investment to upgrade and expand the country’s power and gas networks, aiming to strengthen resilience, prepare for rising electricity demand and protect households from future price shocks. The plans, announced by Ofgem, unlock £28 billion of initial funding from 2026 to 2031, with total network spending expected to reach around £90 billion over the decade.

Energy and climate developments continue to move quickly, with new data points, technology milestones, and policy decisions showing how the transition is unfolding across different sectors. From accelerating clean power deployment to the growing role of storage, nuclear expansion, and emerging electric aviation, each development offers a snapshot of how global energy systems are shifting.

The 2025 Budget introduces the biggest change to how electric cars are taxed since EVs first went mainstream. With fuel duty set to collapse as more people switch from petrol and diesel, the government is reshaping the system so that EVs contribute to road funding while keeping the transition affordable for drivers.

Global energy demand keeps rising, Texas is building clean power at record speed, Australia is racing toward a nearly all-renewable grid, and battery recycling is becoming a critical part of mineral supply. Meanwhile, electricity prices continue climbing — not because of fuel shortages, but because grids worldwide are under intense infrastructure pressure.

COP30 has closed in Belém after more than 18 hours of overtime negotiations, ending with a compromise deal that many countries say falls short of what the moment demanded. Despite intense pressure from over 80 nations to lock in a roadmap for phasing out fossil fuels, the final text avoids any direct reference to oil, gas or coal — a major omission given they remain the main drivers of climate change.