Global Scans · Responsible Consumption and Production · Weekly Summary

In September 2015, 193 world leaders agreed to 17 Global Goals for Sustainable Development. If these Goals are completed, it would mean an end to extreme poverty, inequality and climate change by 2030.
Goal 12: Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns.

• [New] European gas & power consumption rebounds more strongly than anticipated, led by an industrial resurgence - particularly in Germany - and by higher power sector gas burn as falling gas prices undercut coal. Timera Energy
• [New] Lactips has raised EUR 16 million to date and now plans to scale up its industrial production capacity and expand into markets across Europe, the Americas and Japan. office-china
• [New] Demand for water, driven by hydrogen production and carbon capture and storage technologies, will rise sharply by 2050. Mirage News
• [New] Any disruption, from geopolitical pressure, regulatory changes, or logistical constraints, can slow innovation, increase production expenses, or accelerate Beijing's search for domestic alternatives through mining, recycling, or technological replacement. / China Modern Diplomacy
• [New] South Korea's Samsung is expanding AI chip production, and Europe, through its European Chips Act, aims to double its share of global semiconductor manufacturing by 2030. The Geopolitics
• [New] Asturias is set for a renewable methanol production plant worth €250 million, while Galicia will gain a facility projected to add €190 million. RUSSPAIN.COM
• [New] In Valencia, construction has already begun on a battery production plant in Sagunto, projected to contribute €10 billion to the regional economy. RUSSPAIN.COM
• [New] Central Asia has considerable opportunities for green hydrogen production, with several countries already initiating hydrogen projects with foreign partners. Caspianpost.com
• [New] Kazakhstan aims to increase the share of renewable energy in electricity production to 50% by 2050. Caspianpost.com
• [New] The AI power consumption surge will probably be at its most intense between 2025 and 2030 when AI will take up a quarter of all data center load. FABTECH
• [New] World Coffee Research surveyed some of the growing body of scientific literature and found conclusions which confirm predictions of 50% reduction in land area suitable for Arabica coffee production by 2050. Worth
• [New] Production capacity for the advanced chips that power artificial intelligence systems will be split about 85-15 between Taiwan and the United States by 2030 and 80-20 by 2036. Al Jazeera
• [New] U.S. coal production would decline from 532.9 million short tons in 2025 to 512.3 million tons in 2026, the lowest since 1964, and 496.9 million tons in 2027, the lowest since 1963. Energy News, Top Headlines, Commentaries, Features & Ev
• [New] Neuralink will start high-volume production of brain-computer interface devices this year. semiwiki
• [New] 2026 could be a pivotal year, especially as we start to see production limitations and shortages develop in both semiconductor fabrication and packaging at the most advanced nodes, and limitations in the availability of memory. Semiconductor Engineering
• [New] By 2035, owning a small, powerful 3D printer at home might be as common as owning a smartphone, empowering a global culture of rapid self-production. Futurist Keynote Speaker on AI Leadership, Future of Wo
• [New] HMG aims to achieve mass production capacity of 30,000 Atlas units annually by 2028, signaling a transition from prototypes to volume-manufactured humanoid robots. Emerging Market Skeptic
• [New] By 2026, manufacturers are expected to produce auditable, real-time data tied directly to procurement, production, and logistics - not after-the-fact summaries. Atlantic | Tomorrow's Office
• [New] The EU's decarbonization strategy could lead to significant downsizing of European steel production capacity, particularly affecting flat steel producers facing unsustainable operating conditions. OREACO

Last updated: 19 January 2026