Renewable energies become for the first time the first source of electricity in the world, beating coal

The global production of solar and wind energy has exceeded the demand for electricity this year and, for the first time never recorded, the combined renewable energies have generated more electricity than coal, according to a new analysis.

Global solar production has increased by a record rate of 31 percent in the first half, while wind production increased by 7.7 percent, according to the report of the global reflection group on EMPER energy.

The combined production of solar and wind energy has increased by more than 400 terawatt hours, more than the global global demand that increased during the same period, according to the study conclusions.

Renewable energies represented 34.3 percent of world electricity production in the first half of 2025, while coal represented 33.1 percent. This is the first time that renewable energies have exceeded coal, depending on the report.

The results suggest that it is possible for the world to get rid of polluting energy sources – even if the demand for electricity soars – thanks to continuous investments in renewable energies, in particular solar, wind, hydroelectric, bioenergy and geothermal energy.

“This means that they can keep the rhythm of the growing appetite for electricity around the world,” said Malgorzata Wiatros-Motyka, a senior electricity analyst at ESTE and the main study of the study.

At the same time, total production of fossil fuels has decreased slightly, by less than 1 percent.

“The overall fall of fossils is perhaps weak, but it is significant,” said Wiatros-Motyka. “It is a turning point when we see a set of shows.”

The firm analyzes the monthly data of 88 countries representing the vast majority of the demand for electricity in the world.

The reasons why demand increase include economic growth, electric vehicles and data centers, population growth in developing countries and the need for increased cooling as temperatures increase.

Respond to this demand by burning fossil fuels such as coal and gas to produce electricity releases gases that warm the planet, including carbon dioxide and methane. This leads to extreme weather conditions, more serious, more expensive and more deadly.

China and India in mind

EMBER also devoted part of its report to an analysis of China, India, the European Union and the United States. Together, they represent almost two thirds of electricity production and carbon dioxide emissions from the world’s electricity sector.

In the first six months of the year, China added more solar and wind energy than the rest of the world together, and its production of fossil fuels fell by 2 %, according to the report.

India has experienced record growth in solar and wind energy, greater than the growth in demand. The production of fossil fuels in India has also dropped.

In both countries, emissions have decreased.

“Analysts often say that renewable energies do not really lead to a reduction in the use of fossil fuels,” said Michael Gerrard, founder and director of the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law of the University of Columbia, who did not participate in the report.

“This report highlights an encouraging step in the opposite direction.”

But in the United States, demand growth has exceeded that of clean energy production. In the EU, the weakness of the production of wind and hydroelectric energy has contributed to an increase in the production of coal and gas, the report indicates. In both markets, the production of fossil fuels and emissions have increased.

Renewable energies in the United States are facing challenges

The American clean energy market is faced with challenges while the administration of President Donald Trump distances federal renewable energies and focuses on the increase in coal, petroleum and gas production. The administration ended the financing of the Biden era which supported clean energy projects, repealed the policy underlying the regulations relating to the climate and interrupted the development of wind energy.

Meanwhile, the administration has raised the barriers to the extraction of coal, granted two years of regulatory reduction to power plants with coal and other polluting industries and has devoted millions of dollars to these coal -fired power plants.

In his speech to the United Nations General Assembly last month, Trump attacked renewable energies and questioned the validity of the concept of climate change.

Experts warn that Trump’s efforts to block clean energies will have a long -term impact.

“The federal government considerably accelerates the growth of artificial intelligence, which will massively increase the demand for electricity, and it also closes the new cheapest sources of electricity, wind and solar. This will lead to a gap between supply and demand,” said Gerrard.

Renewable energies “still have the possibility of making progress to replace fossil fuels, even with a certain growth in demand,” said Amanda Smith, the main scientist to the research organization Project Drawdown, which was also not involved in the report.

But Smith said: “I am very carefully optimistic about the fact that renewable energies can continue to grow and replace fossil fuels in the United States. I am more optimistic worldwide.”