Renewables have overtaken coal as the world’s largest source of electricity generation for the first time in history. New data from global energy think tank Amber shows the historic event marks a turning point in the global transition to clean energy.
While demand for electricity is rising worldwide, the dramatic growth in solar and wind capacity has been so great that it has covered all of the additional electricity demand and even led to a slight reduction in coal and natural gas consumption.
However, global statistics do not paint a uniform picture of the energy situation. Developing countries, especially China, have led the way in clean energy, but richer economies such as the United States and the European Union have become more dependent on fossil fuels than in previous years.
Coal, one of the largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions, will remain the world’s largest single source of electricity generation in 2024; A position it has held for more than half a century.
China is by far the leader in clean energy growth, adding more new solar and wind capacity to its grid last year than any other country in the world combined. The dramatic increase in renewable electricity generation in China has outpaced growth in electricity demand, and as a result, fossil fuel generation in the country has fallen by 2%.
India has also added significant new solar and wind capacity despite slower electricity demand growth, reducing its dependence on coal and gas. In contrast, developed countries such as the United States and members of the European Union have followed the opposite path.
In the United States, the faster growth in electricity demand than in clean energy growth has increased the country’s dependence on fossil fuels. In Europe, the weak performance of wind and hydroelectric plants has led to a resurgence in coal and gas use within a few months.
A critical turning point
Despite regional differences, Ember describes the current juncture as a critical turning point.
The largest share of growth has come from solar power, which alone has met 83 percent of the increase in electricity demand. Solar power is now the world’s largest source of new electricity generation for the third year in a row.
Today, more than half of the world’s solar power generation (58 percent) is in low-income countries, which have seen significant growth in the past few years. This progress is largely the result of extraordinary cost reductions. Since 1975, the price of solar technology has fallen by about 99.9 percent. As a result, a large market for solar energy can be created in less than a year in countries where grid electricity is expensive or unstable.
