In the first half of 2025, renewable energy sources surpassed coal and became the largest source of electricity in the world. Researchers believe this event is a turning point in the "historic transition" from fossil fuels, writes Focus.
Data in the latest Ember report shows that the growth of solar and wind energy has outpaced global electricity demand. Solar energy accounted for 83% of the increase, setting a new global record. Against this backdrop, for the first time in history, electricity generation from renewable sources exceeded electricity generation from coal in the first half of this year, writes IFLScience.
A Step Away from a Turning Point
According to Malgorzata Wiatros-Motyka, senior power analyst at Ember, this event marks the first sign of a decisive "turning point." In recent years, solar and wind energy have been developing rapidly enough to meet the growing global demand for electricity. Experts also believe that this signifies the beginning of a transition where clean energy keeps pace with rising demand.
The data indicates that solar energy is growing faster today than ever before, reaching a record 31% in the first half of 2025. The main growth came from:
- China – 55%;
- USA – 14%;
- EU – 12%;
- India – 5.6%;
- Brazil – 3.2%;
- Rest of the world – 9%.
Yet, several countries have managed to set new records for solar energy production. Among the two dozen largest solar energy producers, 7 countries include:
- Hungary;
- Greece;
- Netherlands;
- Pakistan;
- Spain;
- Australia;
- Germany.
All countries on this list, according to the report, generated at least 20% of their electricity from solar energy in the first half of 2025. Researchers also note that more solar power plants are emerging worldwide, which is considered a key factor in growth. On the other hand, about 4% of the increase in solar energy production was attributed to sunnier weather earlier this year. Wind energy production also increased, albeit by a relatively modest 7.7%.
Experts also recorded a slight decrease in electricity generation from gas worldwide – by 0.2%, and from coal – by 0.6%. At the same time, the use of other fossil fuels showed a slight increase of 2.5%. Overall, this means that the total volume of electricity generation from fossil fuels decreased by approximately 0.3%.
It is worth noting that the report is based on data obtained from 88 countries, covering 93% of global demand. It also details the four largest global sources of carbon emissions: the USA, China, India, and the European Union.
Researchers found that in the first half of this year, China and India consumed less fossil fuel for electricity generation as the demand for clean energy grew faster. At the same time, electricity generation from fossil fuels increased in the USA and EU – this is attributed to the fact that in the USA, demand growth outpaced clean energy production growth, while in the EU, reduced energy generation from wind and hydroelectric power led them to rely on gas and coal generation.
Still, experts say the situation is complex. Despite the development and growth of renewable energy sources, the world demands more and more energy – partly due to the rapid development of artificial intelligence. Some estimates suggest that by 2030, AI-based data centers could account for up to 21% of global energy demand. As a result, experts predict that the demand for fossil fuels will unfortunately persist.
On the other hand, fossil fuels, fortunately for humanity, are no longer the dominant source as they once were.
