Solar Surge: The Race Toward a Post-Fossil World

Picture Credit: by ET Edge Insights

Despite a year marked by discouraging climate headlines, rising fossil fuel production, political denial in the United States and geopolitical turmoil pushing climate action down the agenda; a quieter revolution is underway. Around the world, clean energy is expanding at an unprecedented pace, signaling what experts describe as the dawn of a new energy age powered by wind and sun.

In the first half of 2025, renewables overtook coal as the world’s largest source of electricity for the first time ever. This milestone is critical: the power sector is the single biggest source of global emissions, and clean electricity is essential to decarbonizing transport and industry. According to the International Energy Agency, global renewable capacity is expected to double in the next five years, adding 4,600 gigawatts, roughly equivalent to the combined power capacity of China, the European Union and Japan.

China leads the charge. Often dubbed the world’s “first electrostate,” it has installed more wind and solar in a single year than the total renewable capacity currently operating in the United States. By the end of last year, China had more than 1,400 gigawatts of wind and solar installed, with another 500 gigawatts under construction. The US ranks second in new solar growth, while India, the EU, Japan and Brazil are also rapidly scaling up.

Picture Credit: by Reddit

Yet the picture remains complex. Energy demand is rising so quickly that fossil fuels are not disappearing. Coal production in China has hit a ten-year high, and fossil fuel use has ticked up in the US, India and parts of Europe.

Meanwhile, smaller economies are making surprising leaps. Pakistan now generates 30% of its electricity from solar, up from zero just six years ago. Hungary, Greece, Chile and Nepal are also accelerating renewable adoption.

The clean energy surge is undeniable. But whether it overtakes fossil fuels fast enough to curb catastrophic warming remains the defining question of our time.