How renewables first overtook coal as the world’s leading source of electricity

Renewables overtook coal as the world’s top source of electricity in the first half of this year, a historic milestone, according to new data from the Ember energy think tank.

Electricity demand is increasing worldwide, but the growth of solar and wind power was so strong that it covered 100% of the additional electricity demand, contributing even to a slight decrease in the use of coal and gas.

However, Ember claims that the headlines hide a heterogeneous global picture. Developing countries, especially China, led the charge for clean energy, but richer nations such as the United States and those in the European Union (EU) relied more than before on fossil fuels, which contribute to global warming, for electricity generation. This gap is likely to widen, according to another report by the International Energy Agency (IEA). That report predicts that renewables will grow much less intensely than expected in the U.S. as a result of President Donald Trump’s policies. Coal, a major contributor to global warming, was still the world’s largest source of power generation in 2024, a position it has held for more than 50 years, according to the IEA. While China continues to expand its coal-fired power plant fleet, it also remains far ahead in clean energy growth, adding more solar and wind capacity than the rest of the world combined. This allowed China’s increased generation from renewable sources to outpace growing demand for electricity and helped reduce generation from fossil fuels by 2%. India saw a slower increase in electricity demand and also added significant solar and wind capacity, which meant it reduced coal and gas consumption alike.

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