Renewable energy
Atomic claims
Renewable energy is energy from sources replenished by natural processes at a rate equal to or faster than their use.
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Renewable energy chiefly includes solar, wind, hydropower, bioenergy, geothermal and ocean energy.
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By the end of 2025, renewables made up about half of global installed power capacity.
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The share of renewables in total final energy consumption is much lower than its share in installed power capacity and electricity generation.
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The IPCC defines renewable energy as solar, geophysical or biological energy replenished by natural processes at a rate that equals or exceeds its rate of use.
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Global renewable power capacity reached 5,149 GW at the end of 2025.
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692 GW of global renewable power capacity was added in 2025.
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Solar and wind together constituted roughly 35% of global installed electricity capacity at the end of 2025.
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Solar capacity added 511 GW in 2025.
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Solar and wind together constituted 96.8% of net renewable capacity additions in 2025.
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Renewables accounted for 85.6% of all power capacity added globally in 2025.
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Non-renewable power capacity additions nearly doubled in 2025 compared with 2024.
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Asia held 2,891 GW of global renewable capacity in 2025.
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China alone held about half of the world's operating solar capacity in 2025.
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Renewables generated 33.8% of global electricity (10,730 TWh) in 2025.
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Renewable electricity generation exceeded coal generation in 2025.
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Solar supplied 8.7% of global electricity generation in 2025.
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Solar generation grew by 636 TWh (30%) in 2025.
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Renewables constituted 18.0% of total final energy consumption in 2023.
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The share of renewables in heat and transport final energy consumption remains limited.
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On a levelised-cost basis, 91% of utility-scale renewable capacity commissioned in 2024 was cheaper than the cheapest new fossil alternative.
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Global average 2024 costs were $0.034/kWh for onshore wind.
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Renewable energy employed 16.6 million people globally in 2024.
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Renewable energy employment increased by 2.3% from 2023 to 2024.
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China accounted for about 7.3 million (44%) of renewable energy jobs in 2024.
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At COP28 (December 2023), parties called for tripling global renewable capacity by 2030.
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The COP28 goal of tripling global renewable capacity by 2030 is commonly quantified as about 11,000 GW.
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Median lifecycle emissions for wind, solar and hydropower are far below those of coal and gas.
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IRENA's findings on the comparative cost of renewable capacity rest on levelised cost of electricity.
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Critics argue that levelised cost of electricity metrics omit system costs such as storage, backup capacity and transmission for variable sources.
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The size of system costs at high wind and solar shares is disputed.
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Whether biomass combustion is carbon-neutral depends on feedstock, regrowth time and accounting rules.
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Scientific assessments differ on whether biomass combustion is carbon-neutral.
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Traditional biomass is counted separately from modern renewables in SDG7 statistics.
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Large dams are renewable under most definitions.
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The effects of large dams on ecosystems are debated.
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IRENA states that record capacity additions still leave the world off pace for its renewable energy commitments.
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China has a documented high share of renewable manufacturing and deployment.
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The implications of China's high share of renewable manufacturing and deployment for energy security and trade policy are contested.
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Renewable energy refers to usable energy derived from natural resources that are replenished over human timescales, such as sunlight, wind, moving water, and geothermal heat.
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Fossil fuels rely on finite resources.
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Fossil fuels release high levels of greenhouse gases when burned.
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Renewable technologies are primarily utilized to reduce carbon emissions.
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Renewable technologies are primarily utilized to mitigate anthropogenic climate change.
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Over the past two decades, technological advancements and economies of scale have significantly lowered the cost of renewable generation.
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Renewable energy is a rapidly growing segment of the global energy sector.
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Renewable energy is defined as energy derived from natural sources that are replenished at a higher rate than they are consumed.
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Major forms of renewable energy include solar, wind, hydroelectric, ocean (tidal and wave), geothermal, and biomass.
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In 2023, renewable sources accounted for approximately 30% of total global electricity generation.
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Hydropower remains the largest single source of renewable electricity globally.
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Solar photovoltaics (PV) and wind power are currently the fastest-growing sources of electricity capacity worldwide.
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The levelized cost of energy (LCOE) for newly commissioned utility-scale solar PV dropped by approximately 89% between 2010 and 2022.
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Renewable energy technologies generally emit substantially lower greenhouse gases over their complete lifecycles compared to fossil fuels like coal, oil, and natural gas.
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Clean energy technologies include renewables, electric vehicles, and nuclear.
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Global investment in clean energy technologies reached an estimated $1.7 trillion in 2023.
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The expansion of renewable energy is cited by the United Nations as a primary mechanism for achieving the Paris Agreement goal of limiting global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.
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The renewable energy sector directly and indirectly employed approximately 13.7 million people worldwide in 2022.
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Critics frequently cite the variability of wind and solar power as a threat to electrical grid stability.
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Proponents and energy planners argue that intermittency can be managed through utility-scale battery storage, grid modernization, demand-response mechanisms, and maintaining a geographically diverse energy mix.
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There is ongoing debate over whether nuclear power should be classified alongside renewables.
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Nuclear energy is low-carbon.
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Nuclear energy is often included in broader clean energy mandates.
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Nuclear energy relies on finite mined uranium.
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Nuclear energy produces long-lived radioactive waste.
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Many environmental frameworks exclude nuclear energy from strict renewable definitions.
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Renewable technologies like batteries and wind turbines require the extraction of critical minerals such as lithium, cobalt, and rare earth elements.
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The extraction of critical minerals for renewable technologies faces scrutiny for localized environmental degradation.
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Large-scale renewable projects, particularly hydropower and utility solar, frequently face localized opposition regarding land use.
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The classification of biomass as a carbon-neutral renewable source is contested by ecologists.
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Biomass energy involves burning wood or agricultural waste.
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Replanted organic matter theoretically sequesters emitted carbon over time.
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Critics argue that immediate emissions from biomass exacerbate short-term climate goals.
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Critics argue that the biomass industry incentivizes deforestation.
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Whether the 2030 tripling goal is achievable is a matter of projection, not fact.
External references: Wikidata Q12705