Conventional energy is facing genuine and increasing competition from new technology and it also appears to be under attack on some new fronts

Conventional energy is not only facing genuine and increasing competition from new technology (clean energy technology continues to advance rapidly while conventional energy is mature) but it also appears to be under attack on some new fronts such as adverse government policies, increasing energy efficiency and restrictions gaining access to finance.

Energy efficiency is decreasing total demand, affecting conventional sources of energy disproportionately.
According to the IEA, global energy efficiency improved by an estimated 13% between 2000 and 2017. Without this improvement, global energy use in 2017 would have been 12% higher (equivalent to adding the annual final energy use of the European Union to the global energy market).

Our research indicates that the potential energy saving (via new energy efficiency initiatives) over the next decade is likely to be even greater, driven by a stronger public consciousness and an abundance of new technologies. In particular, 5G communications technology enables the creation of the ‘Internet of energy’ and the ‘datafication’ of energy demand and supply for the first time ever. This heralds a step-change in efficiency and transparency to an industry that hasn’t really changed for the last century.