New data from the Ember think tank points to a historic shift, with renewable energy sources overtaking coal
Date:
Październik 10, 2025
The Ember think tank has published data on global energy in the first half of 2025. The analysis shows that the development of renewable energy sources has exceeded the global growth in electricity demand. This is despite a decline in energy production from hydropower and biomass. The development of solar energy alone covered approximately 83% of the increase in energy demand. Solar energy production increased by almost a third year-on-year.
Renewables are also increasingly pushing coal out of the global energy mix. In 2025, combined renewable energy generation exceeded coal-based energy production. While RES provided 34.3% of electricity (32.7% in the first half of 2024), coal covered 33.1% of global electricity production (34.2% in the first half of 2024). Electricity production from coal also fell in absolute terms. Despite the increase in energy demand, global energy-related emissions fell compared to 2024.
Interestingly, coal-based energy production has fallen in both China and India. Analysts describe the decline in India as temporary, but the change in China is structural and related to the fact that the country is a global leader in renewable energy development. The country's energy emissions appear to be stabilising, which may be a prelude to a permanent reduction and China's pursuit of climate neutrality. Surprisingly, there has been an increase in fossil fuels in the US and the EU, which has offset the decline in energy production from hydropower, biomass sources and offshore wind energy.
Surprising data can also be found when we look at EU countries. It turns out that over the last four years, Hungary has seen the largest increase in the share of solar energy. While in 2021 it obtained 11% of its energy in this way, by 2025 this figure will be almost 30%. Poland has also been successful, increasing its share of solar energy from 3% to almost 13% over the same period. Globally, the share of solar energy in electricity production has changed from 3.82% to 8.81%.
According to analysts, we are facing a turning point. The decline in renewable energy costs has led to a situation where global energy emissions should continue to fall, while fossil fuels have already reached their historical peak. However, in order to meet climate targets, further work is needed and an even stronger commitment to the development of clean and cheap renewable sources is required.
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