Marking a defining moment in the “historic shift” away from fossil fuels, renewable energy surpassed coal to become the world’s largest source of electricity in the first half of 2025. The rest of this article is behind a paywall. Please sign in or subscribe to access the full content.

The latest report from Ember shows that solar and wind power grew faster than global electricity demand, with solar alone covering 83 percent of the increase and shattering records worldwide. Amidst this global rise, output from renewables overtook coal for the first time on record for the first six months of this year.

“We are seeing the first signs of a crucial turning point,” Małgorzata Wiatros-Motyka, Senior Electricity Analyst at Ember, said in a statement . “Solar and wind are now growing fast en

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