Fossil fuel industries 'worried' after clean energy powered 40% of world's electricity needs in 2024

Clean energy sources met more than 40% of global electricity demand last year – a milestone that experts predict will “deeply worry” the fossil fuel industry.

Low carbon fuels haven’t met this proportion of demand since the 1940s, when the power system was about 50 times smaller than it is today and relied heavily on hydropower.

The milestone – revealed in a new report from energy think tank Ember – was largely powered by an uptick in solar power capacity, which has doubled in the last three years.

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The report reflects the “relentless rise” of renewable energy, said Stuart Dossett, senior policy advisor at Green Alliance.

“The fossil fuel industry should be worried – the march of renewables is relentless, and they are going to displace fossil fuels from the electricity system. It is happening, and it is irreversible,” he told Big Issue.

“it’s likely that this year, for the first time, there will be a period of time that the UK electricity grid will run completely clean. It will be relatively short but it is the beginning.”

Eighty countries generated more than 50% of their electricity from clean sources in 2024, including Britain. And 47 countries (included in the 80) reached more than 75%.

The shift is essential to bring down bills and to make sure we keep within safe climate limits, said Robert Palmer, deputy director of just transition advocacy organisation Uplift.

“Despite the best efforts of the oil and gas industry to keep us locked into their expensive and polluting products for longer, the world is shifting to clean energy sources,” he said, “albeit too slowly.”

The need to decarbonise is urgent – 2024 was the hottest year on record. And in an example of the ‘doom loop’ quality of global heating, the subsequent demand for air-conditioning pushed up electricity demand to an all time high.

Power sector emissions – driven by air con usage and energy-intensive artificial intelligence data-centres – hit 14.6 billion tonnes of CO2 last year.

Thankfully clean power capacity is rising to meet increased demand.

The share of fossil fuels in the electricity mix fell from 60.6% in 2023 to 59.1% in 2024, dropping below 60% for the first time since the 1940s. Coal power provided 34.4% of global electricity in 2024 and gas 22%, with other fossil fuels contributing 2.8%

Clean power is still in the minority, but this year tipped 40% for the first time. Hydropower remains the dominant renewable, providing 14.3% of global electricity generation in 2024. This was followed by nuclear at 9%, then wind (8.1%) and solar (6.9%) – but these latter two are growing much quicker.

“Solar power has become the engine of the global energy transition,” said Phil Macdonald, the managing director of Ember.

“Amid the noise, it’s essential to focus on the real signal. Hotter weather drove the fossil generation increase in 2024, but we’re very unlikely to see a similar jump in 2025.”

In the UK, Dossett said, renewables are building up at pace.

“In the UK, renewables share of electric and hit over 50% for the first time in 2024, which is a huge moment for the country.”

“Under the clean power 2030 mission, the government’s aiming to hit 95% clean power by the end of the decade, which is a target that would put the UK at the forefront. It’s a hugely ambitious but achievable plan, and it’s going to show how it can be done for lots of other economies across Europe.”

The government is on track to meet this target, Palmer added.

“Solar power in the UK hit a new record earlier this month, and the speed with which this government is rolling out offshore wind means we’re close to meeting our targets,” he said

“This is essential not just to bring down bills, but also to make sure we keep within safe climate limits. The wildfires currently raging across parts of Scotland are a clear reminder why we need to move away from fossil fuels fast. Thankfully, some governments seem to have got the message.”

Renewable power will ultimately bring down bills. In 2023, the International Energy Agency estimated that 96% of newly installed, utility-scale solar PV and onshore wind capacity had lower generation costs than new coal and natural gas.

Three-quarters of these new wind and solar PV plants offered cheaper power than existing fossil fuel facilities.

From an energy security perspective, it reduces reliance on volatile foreign export markets, said Dosset.
“At the moment, we buy gas from international markets. Those markets are something that we have no control over, either in terms of the price or the flow of where that gas comes from. But if we build out a clean power system with lots of offshore wind, onshore wind and solar, then we have guaranteed certainty over that electricity,” he explained.

“We know that it’s got a fixed price, so we’re not going to see the big spikes in prices that we saw when Russia invaded Ukraine, and the price of gas increased significantly.”

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