Refuelling the future

Building resilient, diverse, and sustainable energy systems

As the world’s need for reliable energy grows, the challenge of meeting demand while advancing climate goals and retaining affordability is more urgent than ever. The transitions to more sustainable futures hinge not on a single solution, but on the successful integration of a diverse mix of energy sources, solutions, and services. This diversity is essential for resilience, energy security, and the ability to meet the world’s sustainable development needs.

A new energy mix for a new era

Today’s energy landscape is rapidly evolving. Solar and wind power are now becoming mainstream for electricity generation, but their variability means we must complement them with other solutions. The future energy mix will be characterised by a tapestry of renewables, hydrogen, and advanced biofuels – including e-fuels for aviation – alongside energy storage innovations and demand-side management.  And as electricity generation remains around only 20% of total energy consumption globally, all outlooks and plausible scenarios indicate fossil fuels will play a key role in the primary energy mix for some considerable time. There is also a  huge opportunity to refuel the future with green molecules.  

Sustainable fuels and advanced bioenergy

E-fuels - synthetic fuels made from renewable electricity, water, and captured CO₂ - are transforming sectors where direct electrification is challenging, such as aviation and shipping. Sustainable aviation fuels (SAF), produced from waste oils, agricultural residues, and even captured carbon, can reduce lifecycle emissions by up to 80% compared to conventional jet fuel. E-fuels are emerging as promising options for long-haul transport and industry, though their production remains energy-intensive and costly at scale.

Advanced bioenergy solutions, including biogas and next-generation biofuels, are also gaining traction. These not only provide renewable energy but also offer waste management and rural development benefits. For example, biogas plants in India and Kenya are supplying clean cooking fuel and electricity to rural communities, improving health outcomes and economic opportunities, whilst investment in green ammonia – particularly across Brazil and Chile - are accelerating as countries explore low-carbon fuel alternatives for export and domestic use.

The potential for hydrogen

Hydrogen production, whilst currently still nascent, offers extensive potential to augment global gas plays as well as linking into other forms of energy production such as renewables and nuclear.  Though the scale, speed and geography of deployment vary considerably, hydrogen is increasingly seen as a critical enabler of deep decarbonisation, particularly in hard-to-abate sectors like steel-making, petrochemicals, fertilizers and transportation, and can also be adopted as a storage mechanism to insure resilience for renewable-powered grids.

New storage solutions

The rise of variable energy sources makes energy storage a cornerstone of resilient energy systems. Battery technologies - from lithium-ion to flow batteries - are being deployed at grid scale, enabling the integration of more solar and wind power. Meanwhile, thermal storage, pumped hydro, and emerging solutions like gravity-based storage are diversifying the toolkit for balancing supply and demand.

Innovations in storage are also unlocking new business models. In California, for example, virtual power plants aggregate thousands of home batteries, providing grid services and empowering consumers to participate in energy markets.

Global value chains and market integration

Building resilient and sustainable global value chains is crucial. This includes securing critical minerals for batteries, scaling up sustainable feedstocks for fuels, and developing international standards for new energy products. Cross-border cooperation - such as the EU’s integrated energy market or the Gulf Cooperation Council’s regional grid - demonstrates how shared infrastructure can enhance security and flexibility.  

The workforce of a resilient energy future

As energy transitions accelerate, upskilling and reskilling the global workforce is essential to unlocking the full potential of new technologies and business models.

Building human capabilities for new green jobs - ranging from advanced manufacturing and digital grid management to hydrogen production and sustainable fuels - will be critical to both economic resilience and social inclusion. Investing in education, training, and lifelong learning ensures that workers and communities can participate in, and benefit from, energy transitions, avoiding the risks of early stranded assets and economic displacement. By proactively preparing people for the jobs of tomorrow, we can progress just transitions that leave no one behind and support thriving, future-ready communities.

The importance of leadership dialogues

Refuelling the future relies on a broader set of solutions, but their scale and impact depend on the depth of global cooperation. Convening dialogues at World Energy Congress 2026 will be pivotal to:

• Aligning policy and regulatory frameworks to support innovation and investment across the energy spectrum.
• Fostering public-private partnerships for the commercialisation and scaling of advanced fuels, storage, and smart energy services.
• Developing global standards and certification schemes to ensure sustainability, traceability, and market confidence.
• Sharing best practices and lessons learned to accelerate the adoption of successful models worldwide.

A call to action

Refuelling the future is about more than technology, it’s about building systems that are flexible, inclusive, and resilient, and the new alliances being formed across global value chains in clean fuels. World Energy Congress 2026 offers a unique platform to bring together governments, industry leaders, innovators, financiers, and communities to embed these new relationships and shape a new energy era.

The Middle East sits at the strategic centre of this trend, uniting large oil and gas producers - who also command huge renewable energy potential - with large markets in Asia Pacific (APAC) and Europe as well as regions like Africa and LATAM looking to embed clean fuels in development and economic goals.

Our World Energy Congress 2026 host, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, is pursuing rapid development in these areas including:

• A national Hydrogen Strategy aimed at providing 10% of global supply by 2030
• Development of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) capacity to fuel tourism and regional development
• Creation of a hydrogen bridge to Europe
• Expand circular economy strategy to create clean fuels from waste

Building on this vision, World Energy Congress 2026 stands out for its century-long legacy of convening the global energy community to drive real impact. As the only truly global energy event, it brings together over 350 speakers, 100+ Ministers, and 18,000+ stakeholders, enabling high-level government-to-government dialogue and deep cross-sector collaboration.

By bridging regions, industries, and generations, the Congress turns ambition into actionable solutions and advances energy transitions that are not just possible - but practical, inclusive, and enduring.