In 2024, over 40% of the world’s electricity came from clean energy sources, marking a major milestone, according to a new report from the energy think tank Ember. However, despite this progress, global carbon dioxide emissions reached a record high due to soaring electricity demand, driven in part by extreme heat.
This rising demand led to a greater reliance on fossil fuel-based power plants. While solar energy remains the fastest-growing source of electricity—doubling its output over the past three years—fossil fuel use still increased slightly to meet consumption needs.
“Solar has emerged as the key driver in the global shift towards cleaner energy,” said Ember’s managing director, Phil Macdonald. “Although higher temperatures led to more fossil fuel use in 2024, such a surge is unlikely in 2025.”
Meanwhile, the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service reported that March 2025 was the second warmest March ever recorded, continuing a trend of record-setting heat.
Ember has long forecast a decline in carbon emissions, but rising electricity consumption has delayed this outcome.
Solar power, praised for its affordability and ease of installation, has been the world’s fastest-growing electricity source for 20 consecutive years. Since 2012, its global output has doubled roughly every three years. China has played a leading role in this growth, accounting for more than half of recent increases. India’s solar capacity also doubled from 2023 to 2024.
Despite its rapid growth, solar still accounts for just under 7% of global electricity production—roughly equivalent to powering all of India. Wind energy contributes just over 8%, while hydropower leads the clean energy sector with 14%. Nuclear power makes up 9%, though both hydro and nuclear are expanding at a slower pace than wind and solar.
The report also notes that this is the first time since the 1940s that clean energy sources have supplied more than 40% of global electricity. Back then, hydroelectricity played a dominant role and overall demand was much lower.
Yet, the global appetite for electricity continues to grow faster than the renewable sector can keep up. Although clean energy accounted for 40.9% of total electricity in 2024, greenhouse gas emissions have not begun to decline.
Electricity consumption worldwide increased by 4% last year, fueled largely by higher use of air conditioning during an especially hot year. This pushed fossil fuel generation—mainly coal (34%) and natural gas (22%)—up by 1.4%. As a result, carbon dioxide emissions rose to an all-time high of 14.6 billion tonnes.
Much of this growth is being driven by rapidly developing economies in Asia, particularly India and China, which continue expanding fossil fuel use to meet their growing energy demands.
