What happened
Solar and wind power outpaced new demand for electricity in the first half of the year, energy think tank Ember said in a report Monday night, and for the first time, renewable energy sources generated more power than coal. The boom in renewables, especially solar power, led to a slight decrease in fossil fuel generation worldwide, the researchers found. But fossil fuel use, and greenhouse gas emissions, rose in the European Union and U.S.
Who said what
The combination of the “small” but “significant” drop in fossil fuel use and renewables keeping “pace with growing appetite for electricity worldwide” represents a “turning point when we see emissions plateauing,” said study lead author Małgorzata Wiatros-Motyka. China added more solar and wind capacity than the rest of the world combined, and lower-income countries now account for 58% of solar generation thanks to a “spectacular reductions in cost,” the BBC said. The EU burned more coal and gas due to “months of weak wind and hydropower performance.”
In the U.S., President Donald Trump has launched an “assault on clean energy policy and related funding” while steering resources to boost coal and oil production, The Associated Press said. At the largest U.S. federal coal auction in over a decade, the lone buyer Monday bid “one-tenth of a penny per ton, underscoring coal’s diminished value” despite Trump’s efforts.
What next?
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission anticipates that solar and wind will make up 83% of new U.S. electricity capacity through mid-2028. “I am very cautiously optimistic” that renewables can “continue to displace fossil fuels in the U.S.,” Amanda Smith, a senior scientist at research organization Project Downtown, told the AP. “I am more optimistic on the world scale.”
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