There’s some encouraging news about how quickly the world is moving toward zero-emission energy sources.
Clean power accounted for 40.9% of the world’s power supply in 2024, according to Ember, which is an independent global energy think thank.
Related: Read the full Ember report
The expansion of renewables was led by solar, which had a growth rate of 29%.
Hydro is the biggest source of clean energy on the world stage at 14%. Nuclear had 9%, followed by wind at 8% and solar at 7%.
Solar has the most momentum with Ember estimating its use doubled in just three years. It’s also the fastest growing source of electricity overall, among all sources, including fossil fuels.
Renewables are now growing at a faster rate than fossil fuels. According to Ember, renewables met three-quarters of the global electricity demand growth last year with 40% of that coming from solar.
Ember says global solar power is now doubling every three years. The think tank says solar passed 2,000 TWh of global power generation in 2024, reaching that level faster than any other power generation technology in history.
Over the last five years, 99 countries have doubled the amount of electricity they produce from solar. Ember attributes some of the fast growth to rapidly falling battery storage prices.
The average price of a 1 kWh lithium ion battery pack had dropped to $115 at last check, according to Ember, which is 84% less than the cost a decade ago.
With rapidly falling battery prices and technology improvements, the days of solar being limited to daylight hours for utility-scale electricity production are coming to an end.
China is among the countries leading the charge. It more than tripled its installation rate of clean energy sources in just two years, according to Ember
However, the U.S. lags behind the global average with renewable energy accounting for about 24% in 2024, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, as reported by Electrek. But still, that represented a 10% jump over 2023.
The bottom line for all of us EV Riders, our vehicles are getting cleaner with each passing year as the world gradually switches to zero-emission energy sources.