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Unless they pull off a heckuva pivot, Tesla may not be the future anymore. However, green energy and other eco-friendly technologies certainly are. We had an item earlier this week about how coal, the dominant fuel of the 19th century is dying, despite Donald Trump's claims to the contrary. Now, how about the other side of the equation?
Back in the early 1940s, 40% of the world's electricity was provided by non-polluting sources. The vast, vast majority of that clean power was in the form of hydroelectric energy, which was fairly widespread, even then. It also helped that global demand for energy back then was much lower, 1/50th of what it is today. But then World War II happened, which in turn led to a petroleum boom, and it wasn't long before non-polluting energy dropped well below 10% of the global total.
Each year, the think tank Ember Energy does a survey of global power usage; their report for 2025 was released this week. And their main finding is that, for the first time in 85 years, the world is back above 40% when it comes to non-polluting electricity sources. Further, the trendlines suggest that the number will reach 50% within the next decade, despite increased demand from AI and other computer-intensive operations.
Hydroelectric power remains king among clean power sources, just as it has been for over a century. However, that is only because a century's time allowed for a LOT of hydroelectric capacity to be constructed. There isn't a whole lot of new hydroelectric being built right now, since most of the obvious opportunities have already been exploited. What's really driving the dramatic increase in clean electricity is wind power and, even more substantively, solar power. In fact, the amount of solar capacity in the world has doubled in just the last 3 years.
Ember's managing director is an engineer named Phil MacDonald. And while he's undoubtedly paid to be a wild-eyed optimist, he is very pleased by what he's seeing worldwide. In the new report, he declares:
The world is watching how technologies like AI and EVs will drive electricity demand. It's clear that booming solar and wind are comfortably set to deliver, and those expecting fossil fuel generation to keep rising will be disappointed. Cleantech, not fossil fuels, is now the driving force of economic development. The era of fossil growth is coming to an end, even in a world of fast-rising demand.
If he is right—and the data is on his side—that is bad news for Big Oil, but great news for the planet.
Have a good weekend, all! (Z)