Driving the Energy Transition: Patent Trends in Heavy-Duty Road Transport

Driving the Energy Transition: Patent Trends in Heavy-Duty Road Transport

Trucks and buses keep the global economy moving, yet 94% still run on fossil fuels and the sector accounts for around 40% of road transport emissions. In this episode, Dr Lakshmi Supriya, Patent Analytics Officer at WIPO, and Jaidev Dhavle, Associate Programme Officer at IRENA, draw on the new joint WIPO–IRENA Patent Landscape Report: Decarbonizing Heavy-Duty Road Transport [https://www.irena.org/Publications/2026/May/Patent-Landscape-Report-Decarbonizing-Heavy-Duty-Road-Transport] to examine what patent data reveals about innovation in the sector. They unpack why patents matter for the energy transition, the rise of battery-electric and hydrogen technologies, where innovation is concentrated, and the policy and investment shifts needed to turn this momentum into real impact.

Investing in People: Education and Skills for the Energy Transition

The energy transition cannot succeed without the people to deliver it. Yet as deployment accelerates, a growing skills gap threatens to slow progress. With 40% of the world's population under 25, the opportunity to build that workforce has never been greater. In this episode, Samah Elsayed, Programme Officer leading IRENA's work on education, discusses the skills the transition demands and how IRENA is shaping energy education globally, from training educators to building local and digital capacities. She also examines the qualification gaps that still hold progress back, and why inclusion is as important as investment. For more on IRENA’s Education initiatives: https://www.irena.org/Education-and-Skills [https://www.irena.org/Education-and-Skills]

From Energy Crisis to Energy Security: Why Supply Chains Matter?

The Middle East conflict has severely disrupted the global economy and exposed the fragility of fossil fuel supply chains. From fuel shortages to supply chain shocks, energy security is being redefined. Countries that invested early in renewables are proving more resilient, showing that security is less about securing fuels and more about ensuring access to technologies, materials and industrial know-how. In this episode, Ann-Kathrin Lipponer, Associate Programme Officer for Innovation and Supply Chains at IRENA, discusses what countries should do to secure a sustainable energy future, the new risks they may face, and why international partnerships are key to success.

How Can Clean Cooking Transform the Lives of 2.1 billion people?

The energy transition is incomplete without addressing how people cook their meals. For over 2.1 billion people worldwide, that still means relying on polluting fuels such as wood, charcoal, and kerosene, which pose serious health risks, particularly for women and children. Yet access to cleaner solutions is one of the most immediate and transformative steps available. Caroline Ochieng, Programme Officer for Energy Access Policy at IRENA, explores how clean cooking can improve health, empower women and youth, protect the environment, support sustainable development, and why it must be central to the energy transition.

Beyond the Price: How Well-Designed Renewable Energy Auctions Drive Positive Impacts

Renewable energy auctions have become one of the most widely used policy mechanisms for procuring renewable electricity worldwide. In this episode, Diala Hawila, Team Lead on Renewable Energy Policy and Finance, and Hannah Sofia Guinto, Associate Programme Officer at IRENA, explore how auction design has shifted beyond achieving the lowest possible price to support grid integration, sustainable development and a just energy transition. They examine key design challenges, the objectives governments are embedding into auction frameworks and what countries and communities stand to gain from well-designed auctions.