According to new data from the climate think tank Ember, clean energy sources accounted for over 40% of the world’s electricity generation in 2024 — marking the highest proportion since the 1940s, the BBC reported.
However, despite the surge in renewables, global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions also reached an all-time high of 14.6 billion tonnes.
The rise in emissions was primarily driven by a significant increase in global electricity demand, which grew by 4% in the past year. Hot weather conditions, particularly during heat waves, played a substantial role in this higher energy consumption.
“Solar power has become the engine of the global energy transition,” stated Phil Macdonald, Ember’s managing director. “Hotter weather drove the fossil generation increase in 2024, but we’re very unlikely to see a similar jump in 2025.”
Solar power maintained its position as the fastest-growing electricity source for the 20th consecutive year, with its output doubling approximately every three years since 2012. China spearheaded this expansion, accounting for over half of the global growth, while India’s solar capacity doubled year-on-year.
Despite this rapid growth, solar energy still constitutes less than 7% of global electricity — equivalent to powering the entirety of India. Wind power contributes just over 8%, and hydropower remains the largest clean energy source at 14%. Nuclear energy accounts for around 9%.
Nevertheless, the growth of renewable energy continues to lag behind the increasing energy demand, especially in rapidly developing nations like India and China. Consequently, the use of fossil fuels still increased, with coal and gas representing 34% and 22% of global electricity generation, respectively — leading to an overall 1.4% rise in fossil fuel consumption.
The European Copernicus climate service reported that March 2025 was the second-warmest March on record, continuing a trend of unusually high temperatures.
Ember has long predicted that CO2 emissions would soon reach their peak, but this milestone has not yet been achieved. The report emphasizes the significant challenge of transitioning to clean energy quickly enough to offset the growing global demand for electricity.
