Data story · Our World in Data energy dataset · 2014-2024
The world's electricity is getting cleaner. Why isn't fossil power falling?
Solar and wind went from a rounding error to 15% of global electricity in ten years. Yet fossil-fuel generation is still higher than in 2014. This page follows the numbers to explain both facts at once: clean power is growing fast, but in fast-growing economies demand grows faster.
1. The global picture
World generation grew from 23,747 to 30,930 TWh. Low-carbon sources covered about 68% of that growth; the rest still came from fossil fuels, mostly coal and gas.
2. Solar and wind are scaling fast
Since 2014, world solar generation has grown 11-fold to 2,143 TWh, and wind 3.6-fold to 2,510 TWh.
3. Two groups of countries
Among the 36 countries that generate at least 100 TWh a year, 16 now burn less fossil fuel for power than in 2014. United Kingdom cut it the most (-53%). The other 20 burn more.
4. The difference is demand growth
Countries that cut fossil power grew their total generation by a median of 8%. Countries where fossil power rose grew by a median of 41%. Across all 36 countries, the correlation between demand growth and fossil change is 0.90. Building clean power is not enough on its own: it must also outpace new demand.
5. Coal is concentrating in two countries
China and India produced 70% of the world's coal power in 2024, up from 54% in 2014. Outside China, India and the United States, coal generation changed by -11%. The future of coal power is decided mainly in Asia.
6. Solar and wind took off almost everywhere
This is the good news, and it is broad. Netherlands gained the most: +39 percentage points of its electricity from solar and wind.
7. The solar leaders
Spain gets the largest share of its power from solar among large systems (21%). India ranks #16 of 36.
8. How clean is each unit of electricity?
Carbon intensity combines the whole mix into one number. The United Kingdom cut it from 463 to 216 g CO₂/kWh in ten years. India's grid, at 705 g/kWh, is still well above the world average of 471 g/kWh because coal dominates.
9. Where the grid is cleanest today
Countries with large hydro or nuclear fleets (Norway, Sweden, France, Brazil) lead. Most of Asia, the Middle East and North Africa still run mainly on fossil fuels.
10. 25 years in one picture
Each row is one of the 20 largest power systems; darker means cleaner. Steady darkening (UK, Germany) shows a transition in progress; flat rows show systems that have barely changed.
11. Clean power is not only for rich countries
An average person in India uses about 1,404 kWh of electricity a year, against 3,790 kWh worldwide and 12,712 kWh in the United States. Low-carbon shares vary widely at every level of use, so a clean grid is a policy and resource choice, not just a matter of income.
12. Spotlight: India
India's generation grew 62% in ten years. Solar output rose from 5 to 143 TWh, and coal's share slipped from 75% to 75%. But low-carbon sources met only about 29% of the new demand, so fossil generation still rose 54%.
13. Explore any large country
Method and caveats
Source: Our World in Data energy dataset (Ember and Energy Institute data). Low-carbon = nuclear + renewables. Country comparisons use the 36 countries with at least 100 TWh of generation in 2024 and compare 2014 with 2024; 2025 is left out because many countries have not reported it yet. Correlation is not causation: weather, hydro years and fuel prices also move these numbers. Code: GitHub.