01 · Verified factual core
What happened
The International Energy Agency forecasts global electricity demand to grow by an average 3.6% a year from 2026 to 2030—about 1,100 TWh of additional use each year. Buildings lead the increase, while cooling, data centres, heat pumps, industry and electric transport all add pressure.
This section is supported by the named sources below. The Heaven on Earth interpretation begins after the factual core.
02 · System analysis
What is driving it
- Electrification of transport and heating
- Growth in data centres and AI infrastructure
- Rising cooling demand
- Industrial expansion and higher appliance ownership
Demand will vary with growth, weather and efficiency. The central uncertainty is whether generation, grids, storage and local resilience can expand quickly enough—and who pays for that expansion.
03 · Human meaning
What this changes for you
Power reliability and cost increasingly determine access to work, communication, cooling, mobility and care. Energy literacy is becoming part of economic literacy.
What this changes for cities
Cities need grid awareness, efficient buildings, distributed generation, storage and clear priorities for keeping essential services operating during constraint or disruption.
Promise · PracticeInfrastructure is not background. It determines which promises can become ordinary life and which remain available only to the already secure.
04 · Response
What is being built
Verenth's system portfolio and Eden Core city model treat energy, productive capability and continuity as connected design questions rather than separate sectors.
05 · Evidence trail
Sources
International Energy Agency · 2026
International Energy Agency · 20 April 2026
Primary and authoritative sources are preferred. Material corrections are recorded in the revision history. Read our complete method