According to new data from climate think tank Ember, clean energy comprised over 40% of the world’s electricity in 2024 — the highest share since the 1940s, BBC reported.
But while renewables surged, global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions also hit an all-time high of 14.6 billion tonnes.
The rise in emissions was driven by soaring global demand for electricity, which increased by 4% last year. Hot weather, especially during heat waves, played a major role in the higher energy use.
“Solar power has become the engine of the global energy transition,” said Ember’s managing director, Phil Macdonald. “Hotter weather drove the fossil generation increase in 2024, but we’re very unlikely to see a similar jump in 2025.”
Solar power remains the fastest-growing source of electricity for the 20th year in a row, with output doubling every three years since 2012. China led the expansion, responsible for more than half the global growth, while India’s solar capacity doubled year-on-year.
Despite the rapid rise, solar still accounts for under 7% of global electricity—equivalent to powering all of India. Wind power contributes just over 8%, and hydropower remains the largest clean source at 14%. Nuclear energy makes up around 9%.
However, renewable growth continues to lag behind rising energy demand, particularly in fast-developing nations like India and China. As a result, fossil fuel use still climbed, with coal and gas accounting for 34% and 22% of global electricity generation, respectively—leading to a 1.4% increase in fossil fuel use overall.
The European Copernicus climate service reported that March 2025 was the second-warmest March on record, continuing a streak of unusually high temperatures.
Ember has long predicted that CO2 emissions would soon peak, but this milestone has not yet been reached. The report underscores the challenge of transitioning to clean energy fast enough to offset the growing electricity demand worldwide.
