More electricity being made using renewable sources than coal for first time ever

Wind and solar power are providing more of the world's electricity than ever before

We all need electricity to go about our daily lives - whether it's to charge our phones, turn the lights on when it's dark, or cook a meal.

Electricity has in the past been mostly made using fossil fuels such as coal.

Coal was still the world's largest individual source of energy generation in 2024, a position it has held for more than 50 years, according to the International Energy Agency.

But for the first time ever, renewable energy sources, like wind, are making more electricity than coal around the world.

This is according to an organisation that looks at energy around the world called Ember.

It has predicted this will happen for a while, and now, it finally has.

However, Ember says it is a mixed global picture with some countries using fewer renewable electricity sources than others.

Coal is used to produce energy

Ember looked at data from the first half of 2025 and found that in countries like China, renewable energy usage went up by a huge amount.

This wasn't the case in every country, but across the world, it meant renewable energy made more electricity than coal overall.

Ember says the new trends are "good news for the environment" as it could help in the fight against climate change.

Why has this happened?

More renewable energy is being used as the demand for electricity is going up.

The lead author on Ember's study, Malgorzata Wiatros-Motyka, explained to Newsround: "People around the world are using more electricity than before. As countries grow, more homes, schools and businesses use lights, computers, air conditioners and electric vehicles.

"That extra use makes electricity demand go up."

And now, according to the most recent data, that demand is being met by renewable energy sources, instead of fossil fuels.

Malgorzata called this "pivotal", and said "the era of fossil fuel growth is coming to the end."

What are fossil fuels, and why are they bad for the environment?

Burning coal produces a lot of CO2, which is harmful for the environment

Energy sources such as coal, oil and gas are called fossil fuels, and in order to use them, they need to be burnt.

When burnt, they release substances into the atmosphere, including a gas called carbon dioxide.

The gases form a layer around the Earth which traps heat from the Sun and warms up the Earth.

Scientists say that human activity has increased the amount of 'greenhouse gases' in the atmosphere which is causing the global temperature to rise.

What does renewable energy mean?

Wind turbines are often put out to sea where it's windier

Renewable energy is made using things that don't run out as they are replaced by nature, such as wind, water and sunlight.

Renewable energy is also called clean energy or green power because it doesn't pollute the air or the water.

What's happening in different countries?

Solar panels can be put on houses like this or put in big fields

Ember's data found that, overall, more renewable energy was used than coal around the world but this wasn't true everywhere.

China added more renewable energy sources than the rest of the world combined, meaning they could reduce their fossil fuel consumption by 2%.

In India, fossil fuel usage was also cut back.

In the US, while the use of solar and wind did go up, more people needed electricity than their renewable energy sources could keep up with, so they increased the use of fossil fuels.

In the EU, months of weak wind and hydropower performance led to a rise in coal and gas generation.