OPENING SUMMARY:
Upon the completion of writing my own climate story, I found a sudden interest in learning more about my father’s story. In an era where the effects of climate change are becoming increasingly evident, taking a step back to hear the experiences of others and reflect on the past becomes crucial. Made possible through my Talk Climate internship with Climate Generation, I was able to ask Ramil Villarama, whom I like to call “Dad,” a set of questions to understand his early years that were spent on a family farm. He shared his unique perspectives on how the environment he knew as a child has evolved, the lessons he learned from the land, and his thoughts on the urgent issue of climate change that affects us all today. As we delved into these cherished memories and insightful anecdotes, we uncovered not only the joys and challenges of growing up on a farm but also the stark contrasts between then and now in the context of climate change. Thank you for tuning in and enjoy the interview segment!
The below interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. To hear the full interview, click on the recording at the bottom of this post.
INTERVIEW:
Ramier: Hello Dad!
Dad: Hey, how are you son?
Ramier: Good! This set of questions is the section about your farm childhood, then we’ll move on to one more focused on climate change, then one more focused on the future and future goals.
Dad: That sounds good, I like that!
Farm childhood
Ramier: Can you share your experiences of growing up on a family farm?
Dad: I’m really happy that you are having interests as far as my childhood… growing up on a farm, it’s really a rewarding experience. I used to help my dad plant various vegetables like eggplants, tomatoes, corn, bitter gourd or we call it ampalaya in Tagalog, and of course, rice. Apart from these vegetables, we would plant and grow melons and watermelons as well. I grew up and lived on the farm for almost 22 years. In terms of the farming practices, we relied on rains apart from irrigation in making sure everything got enough water. Given the nature of the plants that we grow and the type of the soil/land, we grew them alternately, which means some plants are best grown during wet or rainy season while others are in dry season. I also helped my dad raise cattles and carabaos… we would gather cow manure to be used as fertilizers as it actually helps improve the quality of the soil which is essential to growing healthy vegetables, plants, and fruits.
Ramier: How did you learn life in a different way by living on a farm?
Dad: Living on a farm actually taught me to appreciate the simple things. It taught me the value of working hard, and to be humble, respectful, patient, and how to persevere. I really admired and respected my parents, particularly my dad, as he worked really hard to provide our daily needs, all coming from the farm. Helping my parents, particularly my dad, with the planting and nourishing of what we grew taught me responsibility and compassion at a young age.
Ramier: I borrowed this next question from a book that also talked about someone’s experiences growing up on a family farm. How did you have to work with and not against nature to make sure the farm succeeded?
Dad: We would rely heavily on nature to make sure that the farm or the farming succeeds right. Rain is very vital and a significant source of water for healthy soil and to grow the plants. Occasionally we would rely on heavy rains because that’s really good for the plants. In the same manner, equally important was the heat of the sun, given that once you do the harvest, you need to dry the crops, especially rice, before it goes to milling. So nature plays an important role for the farm. We should take care of nature, our nature.
Ramier: That’s very interesting. In the book that I read, the author talked about all four seasons because he was from California, so it’s interesting to compare that to the Philippines where it is only a lot of heat and rain, not really a spring or winter season is very interesting.
Dad: That’s very true! In the Philippines, sometimes I would joke around because in terms of the weather or the temperature, it’s like hot or hotter, but during rainy season obviously there’s like rains and a lot of rains…you know, which as you can imagine, excessive rains don’t really help, cause it causes flooding.
Ramier: Can you explain more of the specific challenges you and your family faced due to the changing weather conditions?
Dad: An example would be when there’s drought and less rain, farmers or my dad would be heavily dependent on irrigation systems, which becomes costly because you would have to buy fuel or gas to power the pumps… so obviously that’s an extra expense, which affects the profitability of farming. Then, the quality of soil diminishes, which means you can’t really expect as good of a harvest.
Climate Change
Ramier: Cool! Let’s talk more specifically about climate change. How has climate change impacted your family farm over the years, and what are some specific changes you have observed? How has the climate in the Philippines changed, if so, since your childhood?
Dad: Climate change definitely impacted our family farm over the years. It actually became harder for certain crops to grow due to shifts in weather patterns and we would look into growing different plants to cope. The climate in the Philippines became, I would say, unpredictable. Nowadays, I’ve seen it get worse because of industrialization, pollution, and people not being cognisant right… they don’t really, I would say for a lack of a better word, take care of nature.
Future
Ramier: Looking ahead, what do you envision for the future of farming, not only on your farm, but your region, considering the ongoing challenges of climate change? What role does the Philippine government play in supporting climate-resilient farming practices… are there any policy gaps that need to be addressed?
Dad: This is really a profound question. Farmers should have access to better farm irrigation systems. Farmers should be able to explore and plant different rice seed variants or rice varieties to help breed improved crops with higher resilience to climate change. In the absence of good rice variants, you can’t really expect a good harvest. The second question you asked about the Philippine government… obviously the government should play a vital role in supporting climate-resilient farming practices by building better irrigation systems. The Philippine government should also continue to educate its people regarding climate change as it truly impacts farming in the Philippines. As for the policy gaps that need to be addressed, the government should really enhance leadership and accountability through monitoring, evaluation, and review of climate change policies and activities. As you would know, the Philippines is like a major source of the global rice supply. There are a lot of farmers there, and it’s really important that the government do its part in making sure that farmers are able to navigate this ever-changing climate.
Ramier: Considering the challenges posed by climate change, do you have any advice or message for the younger generation growing up on family farms today?
Dad: I do, I sincerely do. As you know climate change poses a real threat to farmers around the world. Farming is highly dependent on good weather as it can really influence the harvest. In this regard, my pieces of advice that I’d give the younger generation are that they need to learn how to adapt and think outside of the box. Also, be more cognizant and assertive in understanding what truly causes climate change. The younger generations growing up on family farms need to be more informed. Climate change has been an ongoing issue and younger generations should be more keen in understanding the effects.
Ramier: What I got out of that was education is a big part, and as you mentioned, the government can play a big part in educating people, especially people who may not have the resources to learn about climate change. So to end this, I recently wrote my climate story and in it I wrote that I want to learn more about my identities, and one of them is my Filipino identity. I wanted to specifically learn your stories about growing up on the farm and that connection to climate change. So, my last question is, what were some stories your father told you about the farm when you were younger?
Dad: I actually gravitate to this particular question. I really liked listening to my dad, and he always told me a lot of stories about our farm when I was younger. One story I will never forget is, he said I’d always tell him, hey can we pick up some tomatoes or watermelons. Dad would tell me, “Hey, you and I will go to our farm and he’d bring me to the actual field for me to see the size of the tomatoes and watermelons that we grow.” That’s how he told me the story because obviously I was a little young back then so I couldn’t really recall what happened. My dad told me that he’d say we’ll pick the ripe ones and we will eat them and share them with the entire family and friends. He would always remind me that in life you need to persevere in order to be successful regardless of whether I become a farmer or follow any other profession. He also reminded me to respect nature and everyone around me because again, nature is vital to farmers. And, while it was a lowkey life, I could always feel happiness or fully content because there’s food on the table. My dad was always able to provide food for us. I kind of get teary when we’re talking about the farm, my experiences, and the stories that my dad told. He’s been very passionate in regard to farming and he’s very responsible. Imagine, my parents’ main source of income back then was farming. They didn’t get higher education, but they were able to provide for their family and my dad was able to think outside of the box as well. He didn’t just rely on planting vegetables, he also took care of cattle. Even now we have cattle. It’s a cycle: you plant rice and then the hay, the hay then becomes food for the cattle. You can imagine, it’s like a homestead, everything’s there. Weather played a really important role in that, so again, we should respect nature and take care of Mother Earth.
Ramier: One more thing, why do you think it’s important for you to share your own story and, like what we’re doing right now, talk about your life on the farm and be appreciative of that part of your life? Why do you think it’s important for me and my other siblings to visit the farm and experience the farm whenever we travel to the Philippines?
Dad: You actually hit the nail on the head when you say the word appreciate. Me sharing these stories with you all, for me, is very important to know your roots. There’s life out there, right. I mean you probably think it’s simple. In essence, it’s kind of lowkey, but very rewarding for you all to experience. Meaning living is simple in the Philippines and everything is provided by nature. When we have the opportunity to visit the farm, I like you all to kind of experience what I experienced because I do cherish that upbringing. For me, I would not be the person I am today without the experiences that taught me to be a better person. Living on a farm, I mean it was great. I encourage you, when we have the opportunity, to see and understand your roots as well.
Ramier: Wow, thank you dad!
Dad: I hope that answers all of your questions, but if you would like to have another conversation regarding me growing up on a farm, feel free to ask. I obviously love talking about my childhood living on a farm.
Ramier: Thank you!
Dad: You’re very welcome, anak!
Both my father and I witnessed the power of storytelling through our conversation about his childhood farm adventures and climate change. We invite you to listen to the full, uncut interview below—a treasure trove of insights that will incite your own passion for storytelling.
Ramier Villarama (he/him) was born in the Philippines, but moved to New Jersey with his family at a young age. He is a current rising third-year student at Macalester College in St. Paul, MN. In addition to being a part of the Men’s Swimming and Diving team, he is a double major in Environmental Studies and Studio Art, with a minor in Asian Studies and a concentration in Food, Agriculture, and Society. He has been recently learning more about his Filipino culture and his relationship with nature, and has been connecting both with his art and the work that he creates.
The post Buhay Bukid: A Conversation with My Father on His Childhood Farm Adventures and Climate Change appeared first on Climate Generation.
Buhay Bukid: A Conversation with My Father on His Childhood Farm Adventures and Climate Change
Climate Change
DeBriefed 29 May 2026: Europe’s ‘mind-boggling’ May | Indian heat deaths | Nigeria’s solar mini-grids
Welcome to Carbon Brief’s DeBriefed.
An essential guide to the week’s key developments relating to climate change.
This week
UK, Europe and India battle heatwaves
‘MIND-BOGGLING’ MAY: The UK and continental Europe have set “mind-boggingly crazy” temperature records for May amid a deadly heatwave, reported the Financial Times. According to the Associated Press, the UK “smashed a century-old temperature record for the second time in 24 hours on Tuesday”. The newswire added that records “also fell in France, where temperatures reached 36C on Monday in the country’s south-west”. On Wednesday, Portugal hit a record May temperature of 40.3C, said BBC News.
‘BRUTAL REMINDER’: In parts of Italy, the heatwave triggered blackouts, reported Reuters. The heatwave has also been linked to more than a dozen deaths in the UK and France, including from people drowning and suffering heat-related deaths while competing in sporting events, said ABC News. Simon Stiell, the executive secretary of UN Climate Change, said the intense heatwaves were a “brutal reminder” of the cost of global warming, reported Politico. Carbon Brief has in-depth coverage of the record-shattering heatwave.
INDIA’S DEADLY HEAT: In the southern Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, more than 100 people died within three days following an intense heatwave, reported the Khaleej Times. The publication noted that authorities urged people to stay indoors and avoid direct exposure to the heat. Meanwhile, some parts of India are “grappling with power cuts as record-breaking heat has pushed electricity demand to an all-time high”, reported Reuters.
Around the world
- CRUDE DIPS: The International Energy Agency (IEA) said global investments in oil projects will fall below $500bn in 2026, continuing a three-year decline, reported Bloomberg. Carbon Brief’s analysis of the data shows the US’s “data-centre boom” means it is now investing more in fossil-fuel power than China.
- DODGING NET-ZERO: The world’s biggest miner, Australian giant BHP, has backtracked on climate action by halting or delaying projects to cut “vast” amounts of emissions, according to a Guardian investigation.
- SOLAR SLIP: China’s new solar installations dropped for a fourth straight month, reflecting weakening domestic demand, said Bloomberg.
- NO LOGGING: Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon fell last year to its lowest level since 2019, according to a new report, said Agence France-Presse.
- EXECUTIVE ACTION: Puerto Rico’s governor announced a state of emergency to fight a surge in coastal erosion, citing the need to protect natural resources and vulnerable communities, reported the Associated Press.
Four million
The number of homes in the UK with air conditioning, double the figure from three years ago, reported the Guardian. There are 29m households in the UK.
Latest climate research
- Carbon Brief will soon be launching a new fortnightly newsletter focused on climate research. Sign up for free today.
- LGBTQ+ households in the US are “significantly more likely” to face energy poverty and insecurity than the general population | Energy Research & Social Science
- Global rice-paddy greenhouse gas emissions have doubled over the past six decades | Nature Food
- Vegetation greening and human-caused warming are the “main drivers” of a surge in flash floods over the last decade | Science Advances
(For more, see Carbon Brief’s in-depth daily summaries of the top climate news stories on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.)
Captured
A Carbon Brief investigation has shed light on the impact of weather-related flooding on National Health Service (NHS) facilities across the UK. At least 67 NHS hospital wards, departments and other sites have been forced to temporarily close or relocate due to weather-related flooding. The chart above shows sites of weather-related flooding incidents at NHS facilities. The size of the circles indicates the number of incidents reported at each site.
Spotlight
How solar mini-grids can ‘help boost’ Nigeria’s economy
This week, Carbon Brief covers a new report on Nigeria’s solar mini-grid industry.
Amid the impact of the US-Iran war on the Nigerian economy, a new report has argued that solar-mini grids can help to reduce the country’s reliance on fossil fuels and create more than 200,000 jobs.
In Nigeria, Africa’s third-largest economy, the war has led to an increase in energy prices and a decrease in petrol consumption. Petrol is one of the country’s main sources of transport and household fuel. According to one estimate, prices have surged by up to 40% since the conflict commenced in February.
Although the Nigerian treasury has benefited from rising crude oil prices – the country is a major exporter of oil and gas – the impact has been most visible on the wider population.
Rising energy prices “have affected the purchasing power of workers”, Agnes Funmi Sessi, a labour union leader in Lagos, told Carbon Brief.
However, scaling the deployment of solar “mini-grids” could help the country move away from fossil fuels, stimulate rural economies and improve livelihoods, according to the new report authored by the thinktank, the Africa Policy Research Institute.
“We estimate that, by deploying over 10,000 mini-grids, the sector could create 212,688 direct full-time informal and productive-use jobs across the off-grid and under-grid market segments,” the report said.
A nascent industry
Solar “mini-grids” are small-scale, localised electricity generation and distribution systems powered by solar panels.
The report positioned Nigeria’s mini-grid sector as one of the fastest-growing in Africa, with the country having just 11 mini-grids in 2015 and 155 by 2024, along with at least 42 active developers.
Many of the companies within the sector are young and apply novel local techniques in their deployment of solar technology, the report said.
However, access to finance remains a huge barrier. According to the report, the sector may require up to $8bn to connect 35.4 million people to mini-grids.
“Most Nigerians want solar power in their homes, but it is a capital intensive business for vendors and customers,” Dr Ben Iheagwara, a renewable energy entrepreneur and policy analyst, told Carbon Brief.
The report urged the Nigerian government and its international partners to “attract private capital by de-risking investments and ensuring regulatory clarity and long-term planning”.
Other key recommendations for policymakers and stakeholders include investment in skills development and paying attention to the gender gap.
Powering rural communities
Many rural communities, which make up about 37% of the country, are disconnected from the national grid system, so often have to generate their own electricity through mini-grid systems.
According to Nigeria’s electricity regulator, NERC, a mini-grid is defined as a power generating system with an installed capacity of up to 10 megawatts.
A mini-grid can be powered by fossil fuels such as diesel or petrol, but solar power is now considered a cheaper and cleaner source.
With more than 80 million people lacking access to electricity in Nigeria, solar mini-grids are increasingly viewed as the lowest-cost electrification solution, the report said.
Watch, read, listen
MOVING FORWARD: The Energy Transition Show dug into electricity reform in South Africa, discussing the country’s coal legacy and the role of renewables.
ENERGY POVERTY: In an opinion article for Project Syndicate, executive director of the African Climate Foundation, Saliem Fakir, argued that the energy transition in emerging and developing economies is driven by economics and security rather than emissions targets.
VANISHING CITY: BBC News reported on a coastal community in Nigeria where the ocean has “already swallowed more than half of the town”.
Coming up
- 31 May: Colombia presidential elections
- 31 May-5 June: Global Environment Facility council meeting, Samarkand, Uzbekistan
- 2-5 June: The Venice Agreement for Peatlands workshop, Kisumu, Kenya
Pick of the jobs
- National Oceanography Centre, engagement assistant (external communications) | Salary: £28,254. Location: Southampton, UK
- Dangote Industries, decarbonisation specialist | Salary: Unknown. Location: Lagos, Nigeria
- City of New York, chief decarbonization officer | Salary: $261,469. Location: New York City
- Climate Central, writer and associate editor | Salary: $72,000-$75,000. Location: US (Remote)
DeBriefed is edited by Daisy Dunne. Please send any tips or feedback to debriefed@carbonbrief.org.
This is an online version of Carbon Brief’s weekly DeBriefed email newsletter. Subscribe for free here.
The post DeBriefed 29 May 2026: Europe’s ‘mind-boggling’ May | Indian heat deaths | Nigeria’s solar mini-grids appeared first on Carbon Brief.
At the African Development Bank (AfDB) annual meetings this week, several African leaders called for investments in electricity infrastructure which go beyond lighting homes to powering economies.
Applauding the AfDB for its energy programmes like Mission 300 – which aims to provide electricity access to 300 million Africans by 2030 – the Central African Republic’s President Faustin-Archange Touadera said that without power supply “we will not be able to achieve development”.
Speaking alongside him, the Republic of Congo’s President Denis Sassou Nguesso echoed this, saying that “as we need to help our people to turn towards agriculture, to turn towards livestock rearing, we also need to provide power to them.”
As the Mission 300 initiative advances, attention is increasingly shifting from simply connecting households to ensuring that electricity access translates into economic opportunities and livelihoods. That shift is driving the launch of a new Centre of Excellence for Productive Use of Energy being developed under Mission 300 by the philanthropically funded Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP).
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In an interview with Climate Home News, Carol Koech, GEAPP’s vice president for Africa, said the initiative is designed to ensure that electrification supports income generation, agriculture and local economic development rather than only basic household access.
Q: What is the Centre of Excellence for Productive Use of Energy aiming to achieve with Mission 300?
A: Mission 300 is increasingly being seen as a job platform and so the role of the Centre of Excellence in translating those electricity connections to jobs. So we want the centre to do four things. First, as a delivery engine, which enables countries to embed a cross-institutional advisor that supports the electrification components, but also other components that are happening in the country.
Second, we want the centre to be an innovation and strategy hub. Today, there’s really no place where you can go to find the state of the industry for productive use of energy across the globe, and we want to make the centre of excellence the place where you can go and get information about what technologies are available, where deployment is happening and how much is being deployed.
(Photo: Lighting Global/SunCulture/World Bank)
The third pillar is to coordinate and mobilise capital. We anticipate the centre coordinating internally within the ecosystem but also mobilising additional financing to help productivity. The last piece is how to scale businesses, enterprises and partnerships around this centre because we anticipate that as we grow this space, new industries will emerge and those industries will need to be supported.
Q: Why is productive use of energy becoming important under Mission 300?
A: Mission 300 gave us a bigger platform to demonstrate that energy is truly an enabler for economic development. It’s not sufficient to just provide a connection, but it is required that that connection truly translates to economic development for the communities that benefit.
We shouldn’t bring electricity and then start thinking about what people can do with it. We need to think about both at the same time and ensure electricity arrives together with the things that will make a difference in people’s lives. Historically, we’ve brought electricity and imagined a miracle would happen, but we know that hasn’t been the case.
The question is how to ensure universal access in the cheapest way while still transforming communities. Some mini-grids have been deployed in places where demand is extremely low, making them too expensive to sustain. But when mini-grids are paired with productive uses, the economics start to change. If businesses currently running on fossil fuel generators move to solar or renewable energy, operating costs fall and the business case for mini-grids becomes much stronger.
Q: How could this work in practice for agriculture and rural communities?
A: I’ll give you a practical example in our pilot country Zambia. Zambia has two programmes, they have the ASCENT programme for energy access and they also have the Zambia agribusiness and trade platform (ZATP). Some of the components of the ZATP programme – which is an agri-business program to help farmers to be productive – have a productive use component but don’t have an energy supply component. So we’re offering things like mills, processing facilities, irrigation and others. In some parts of Zambia, these productive use equipment has been supplied but has not been powered, so communities are not benefiting from that.
So the whole point is if we coordinate where the agribusiness programme is deployed together with where the energy access programme is deployed and layer those two programmes together in one place, then you could solve the energy access problem and solve productive use together and therefore have really meaningful outcomes for communities.
Q: How will the centre help both households and small businesses use electricity productively?
A: The question on whether we should electrify households or businesses is neither here nor there. We need to electrify all. The argument is really once we electrify businesses, the owners of those businesses will be able to pay what they need for their households as well as increase production for their businesses.
Electricity consumption is usually an indicator of economic development and by pushing productive use into households, especially where households are also smallholder farmers, the question becomes: how can electricity access translate to additional economic development for them? If you are connected onto a mini-grid, then you can actually use that connection to run irrigation, put in a dryer, or a cold storage system, whatever you require to improve your income but the fact that you have energy means that you can access productive use. Now, we need to ask ourselves how do these farmers or these households then get access to these appliances, because that’s another barrier.
Q&A: Will subsidy cuts for Chinese clean-tech exports hurt Africa’s solar boom?
The cost of these appliances is usually extremely high, and when you have programmes such as the ZATP running in Zambia, that’s already a public funding approach to making these appliances available and potentially reachable for farmers, either at household level, at farm level or at community level.
Q: How does this complement the already existing Mission 300 national energy compacts designed by countries?
A: Each of the national energy compacts have a productive use component, a pillar that talks about distributed renewable energy, productive use, and clean cooking. This is actually complementing the work of the countries, and this centre is like an available support, back office for countries to tap into as they implement their national energy compacts, if they have specific requirements and support for that pillar three.
So the advisers that will be embedded into countries, their role is to coordinate within country programs that are running where energy could make a difference. The advisers will be sourced from the country and so they will make sure that the donor money is coordinated to benefit the country fully. Their role will include going to ministries of agriculture or any related ministries and understanding where they are prioritising programmes that require electrification. In many cases, programmes and money have already been allocated, but this component is about how do we deploy it in a way that it actually truly brings a difference, so those advisers will do that.
Q: How will the centre address financing and private sector investment challenges?
A: What we’re really looking at is different financing mechanisms. In the past, we have provided subsidies and results-based financing to suppliers, distributors and manufacturers to help create markets for productive-use appliances. I see this as one mechanism the centre could use, but the bigger opportunity is aligning public funding across different programmes so that more of it can support productive uses, either through direct funding or subsidies.
Nigerians bet on solar as global oil shock hits wallets and power supplies
When it comes to private sector investment, the reality is that Africa’s energy sector still faces serious constraints. Most private investment has gone into power generation, particularly through independent power producers, and even then that has only been possible in places where the off-takers, usually utilities, are bankable.
To unlock more private capital, countries need the right policies, reforms and regulations, but even more importantly, utilities must become financially viable. If the off-taker is not bankable, then the project is not bankable.
Another major question is how to attract private investment into transmission infrastructure. There are different models being explored, but the reality is that public funding alone is not sufficient to achieve Mission 300, so finding new ways to mobilise private capital will be critical.
The post Q&A: How can African electricity access power jobs not just lightbulbs? appeared first on Climate Home News.
Q&A: How can African electricity access power jobs not just lightbulbs?
The “data-centre boom” is driving a surge in gas investment in the US, pushing its fossil-power spending ahead of China, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).
A rapid expansion of data centres across the nation is at the heart of the US tech sector’s plans to continue “dominat[ing]” the global artificial intelligence (AI) industry.
High demand for electricity to power these data centres has led to companies rushing to build new gas-fired power plants across the country.
This trend, combined with “soaring” gas-turbine prices, drove a threefold increase in US gas‑power investment in 2025 – and the IEA expects this to continue throughout 2026.
As the chart below shows, Chinese investment in coal- and gas-fired power is expected to drop this year, amid domestic policy changes and the Iran war sending gas prices spiralling.
Together, these trends mean the IEA expects US investment in fossil-fuelled power plants to overtake China’s in 2026.
The IEA’s latest world energy investment report shows that spending on renewables and electricity grids continues to dominate at the global scale.
In the US, Trump administration policies such as the phase-out of tax credits for renewables has led to the IEA revising its forecast for new wind and solar power downwards.
At the same time, US electricity demand is expected to rise by an average of 2% per year from 2026 to 2030, with data centres contributing half of the overall increase.
This is leading to what the IEA calls an “AI-driven push” to build new gas-power plants in the US, the world’s largest data-centre market and largest gas producer.
Globally, orders for new gas-power plants increased to 130 gigawatts (GW) in 2025 – a 25-year high – and US demand was a “major factor” in this, according to the IEA.
Much of the demand is coming from tech companies in the US seeking to bypass grid connection queues by building “captive” gas-power plants.
As the chart below shows, since the start of 2025 these US captive data centres alone have signed off on more investment in new gas turbines than any country in the world – aside from the US itself.
Overall, investment in grid upgrades, power equipment and electricity generation to support the buildout of data-centre infrastructure around the world hit $105bn in 2025, according to the IEA.
This is more than the total invested in the energy sector across the whole of Africa – a continent where more than 600 million people do not have access to electricity.
The IEA notes that strong demand for gas-power plants for data centres in the US – and, to a lesser extent, the Middle East – is “limiting the availability of turbines for near-term deployment elsewhere in the world”.
The agency also points out that as the tech sector becomes a “major energy investor”, accounting for around 40% of all corporate power-purchase agreements, it is also “underpinning momentum” for emerging clean technologies, such as small modular nuclear reactors and advanced geothermal.
The post AI boom means US is now ‘investing more’ in fossil-fuel power than China appeared first on Carbon Brief.
AI boom means US is now ‘investing more’ in fossil-fuel power than China
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