For those residing in the U.S., it might seem like renewable energy is losing momentum. In July, Congress made the decision to swiftly dismantle long-standing tax credits that have supported wind and solar initiatives. The Trump administration has taken extensive measures to obstruct the progress of various wind and solar projects, despite an increase in domestic electricity demand necessitating new energy sources more than ever.
Yet, while the U.S. faces challenges in advancing clean energy, the global landscape is witnessing a surge in renewable energy investments, hitting unprecedented highs in the first half of this year. Wind and solar power are not only keeping up with but exceeding the increasing worldwide energy demand. In fact, output from renewable sources is surging so rapidly that it is beginning to overshadow fossil fuel generation. This information comes from a recent report by Ember, a global think tank focused on energy, which analyzed monthly data across 88 countries responsible for over 90 percent of global electricity consumption.
“On a global scale, renewables have surpassed coal,” stated Malgorzata Wiatros-Motyka, a senior electricity analyst at Ember and co-author of the report. “I anticipate this trend will continue.” This marks the first instance where renewable energy sources have produced more electricity than coal globally. Furthermore, the overall use of fossil fuels for electricity has actually decreased slightly when compared to the same timeframe in 2024.
Add to that, a new report released by the International Energy Agency (IEA), a prominent energy research and policy body, suggests that the installed capacity for renewables—comprising solar fields, hydropower plants, and wind turbines—is set to more than double by the end of this decade. The acceleration in green technology adoption is fueled by national policies and significant declines in solar power costs, largely attributed to Chinese manufacturers, who produce over 80 percent of global solar energy components.
This estimation could even be on the conservative side.
“Historically, the IEA has consistently underestimated the pace at which renewables are advancing,” remarked Robert Brecha, a climate and energy advisor with Climate Analytics, a global climate science and policy organization, who was not part of either the Ember or IEA report. “I have no doubt that renewables will double by 2030.”
The bulk of the renewable energy anticipated to come online in the near future will primarily stem from solar energy, which accounted for over 80 percent of new global energy demand in the initial six months of 2025 according to the Ember report. In China, the world’s largest market for renewable energy growth, along with India—projected to be the second largest—an increase in solar energy output is significantly driving a worldwide reduction in coal power generation.
However, in the U.S. and the European Union, fossil fuel generation has risen in the year’s first half. In Europe, unfavorable wind conditions and droughts—not governmental policies—have reduced wind and hydro generation outputs, leading to a 14 percent increase in gas-fired energy production. On the other side of the Atlantic, coal-fired power generation in the U.S. saw a 17 percent increase.
The outlook for renewable policies in the U.S. is grim enough that the IEA has slashed its renewable capacity growth projections for the country by 50 percent compared to last year. This downturn in U.S. expected growth also causes a 5 percent reduction in the agency’s global renewable energy growth forecast. Nonetheless, the IEA still predicts that global renewable energy capacity will grow at a faster rate between 2025 and 2030 than it did from 2020 to 2025.
“They can slow it down; they can inflict more damage than I previously thought,” Brecha said, alluding to the Trump administration’s attempts to hinder renewable energy initiatives. “However, they cannot bring it to a halt.”
