News: 0181212054

  ARM Give a man a fire and he's warm for a day, but set fire to him and he's warm for the rest of his life (Terry Pratchett, Jingo)

Renewables Reached Nearly 50% of Global Electricity Capacity Last Year (theregister.com)

(Friday April 03, 2026 @03:00AM (BeauHD) from the energy-transition dept.)


Renewables made up [1]nearly half of global installed electricity capacity by the end of 2025 , "accounting for 85.6% of global capacity expansion," reports the Register, citing the International Renewable Energy Agency's (IRENA) 2026 Renewable Capacity Statistics [2]report . "Per IRENA's data, that aforementioned 85.6 percent share of new power capacity additions was actually a decrease from 2024, when renewables were about 92 percent of global capacity additions. Yes, the share of total installed power capacity in 2025 rose again, but non-renewable capacity additions also rebounded sharply last year." From the report:

> Solar, in turn, was the dominant renewable technology, accounting for nearly three-quarters of last year's renewable capacity additions. Those additions totaled 692 GW in 2025, lifting installed renewable capacity by a record 15.5 percent year over year, IRENA noted. By the end of last year, renewables accounted for 49.4 percent of global installed electricity capacity, while variable renewable sources such as solar and wind represented roughly 35 percent of total capacity. For reference, it was only in 2023 that renewable energy sources crossed the threshold of generating 30 percent of the world's electricity.



[1] https://www.theregister.com/2026/04/01/renewables_generated_nearly_half_global_power/

[2] https://www.irena.org/Publications/2026/Mar/Renewable-capacity-statistics-2026



Onwards and Upwards (Score:3)

by Barsteward ( 969998 )

to cleaner air at street level

Renewables rock (Score:4, Insightful)

by Elektroschock ( 659467 )

I would expect it to be even more. In Germany I think every euro spent on renewables makes us less dependent on the strait of hormuz and other fossil nighmares.

[1]https://www.zeit.de/wirtschaft... [www.zeit.de]

I am glad for every cent that does not fuel Exxon and the likes and the corruption of democracy that follows from that dependency.

In digital we need digital sovereignty, in energy we need energy sovereignty.

[1] https://www.zeit.de/wirtschaft/energiemonitor-strompreis-gaspreis-erneuerbare-energien-ausbau

Re: (Score:1)

by angel'o'sphere ( 80593 )

In Germany first quarter this year, electricity from renewables was 53%.

Re: (Score:2)

by thegarbz ( 1787294 )

Dear Elektroschock,

Please be informed that your post with the title "Renewables Rock" was well received. On review we have determined your views are not aligned with the culture and values of the greatest country and you have been formally black listed from all future ESTA travel approvals to the United States.

Sincerely,

Markwayne Mullin, THE GREATEST DHS Secretary, GREAT GUY, WONDERFUL GUY.

Carter had solar cells on the White House (Score:2)

by hyades1 ( 1149581 )

Imagine where the US would be today if politicians had been just a little less greedy and corrupt in the 1970s, and embraced Jimmy Carter's commitment to renewable energy. Probably not a wholesale conversion, but during times like these, all of us across the Free World could just sit back with zero f^cks given and a bag of popcorn, and watch a bunch of religious fanatics burn the whole Middle East to the ground.

Everybody wins.

Fateful irony (Score:1)

by T34L ( 10503334 )

I find it really funny that the very particular type of person who low key anticipates large scale society to collapse at any moment and wants to stake a claim to being ready to rough it out on their own or at best as part of small local community can, in 2026 and most populated latitudes best secure mobility by getting an electric car and covering their roof with solar panels. The pretty much same thing applies to any wannabe autarkist nation that doesn't happen to sit on a massive oil field too.

Re: (Score:1)

by T34L ( 10503334 )

Don't get me wrong, I'd LOVE to have a small nuclear reactor in my basement. But the solar panels and a battery are lot more plausible and pretty much no matter what goes down, gonna remain more sourceable than nuclear fuel or steady supply of oil.

If the biosphere on this dumbass planet survives, it'll be through the extreme luck that once we chipped at battery and solar panel manufacturing for long enough, fossil fuels turned out to be simply not even that convenient in comparison.

Laughing at you is like drop-kicking a wounded humming bird.