2024 in review

In 2024, clean power reached a milestone of 40.9% of global electricity generation, driven by a record surge in solar and a rebound in hydropower. Despite this growth, global power sector emissions reached a record high of 14.6 billion tonnes of CO2 because extreme heatwaves drove a 4.0% increase in electricity demand, forcing a 1.4% rise in fossil fuel generation to meet the additional cooling needs.

• Clean electricity's share of global generation reached 40.9% in 2024, up from 39.4% in 2023, marking the first time low-carbon sources exceeded 40% since the 1940s. Wind (8.1%) and solar (6.9%) combined to exceed hydropower (14.3%) for the first time, while nuclear's share fell to a 45-year low at 9.0%.
• Solar power was the primary driver of clean energy growth, increasing by a record 474 TWh (+29%) in 2024. This growth was supported by a capacity installation boom, with new installations increasing by 30% in 2024 to a total of 585 GW.
• Global electricity demand grew by 4.0% (+1,172 TWh) in 2024, surpassing 30,000 TWh for the first time. Approximately one-fifth of this increase was temperature-related, as heatwaves increased cooling demand by 238 TWh, while milder winters reduced heating demand by 29 TWh.
• Fossil fuel generation increased by 245 TWh (+1.4%) in 2024, leading to record power sector emissions of 14.6 billion tonnes of CO2. This increase was primarily driven by temperature-related demand; without the 2024 heatwaves, fossil generation would have seen only a 0.2% increase.
• Regional trends in fossil generation varied: China saw the largest increase (+116 TWh), though it was less than a third of its 2023 growth. India's fossil generation grew by 67 TWh, and the US saw a 34 TWh increase driven by gas. Conversely, the EU's fossil generation fell by 75 TWh.

APA

Ember (2025). 2024 in review. https://ember-energy.org/chapter/2024-in-review/

Chicago

Ember. 2024 in review. 2025. https://ember-energy.org/chapter/2024-in-review/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Ember |title=2024 in review |date=8 April 2025 |url=https://ember-energy.org/chapter/2024-in-review/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{ember20252024, author = {{Ember}}, title = {{2024 in review}}, institution = {Ember}, year = {2025}, month = apr, url = {https://ember-energy.org/chapter/2024-in-review/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }