Straight talk about the world’s transition from fossil fuels to renewables with energy expert Chris Nelder
The Statistical Review of World Energy 2026 is out, offering the first complete look at global energy data for 2025. The report’s 75th edition, now presented in partnership with the energy think tank Ember, reveals a year in which demand for every form of energy hit a new record high.
But growing overall demand, even for fossil fuels, doesn’t mean the energy transition isn’t happening. Renewables grew more than any other form of energy for the first time outside of a recession, with solar power accounting for 72% of the increase. And global electrification reached a tipping point, with electricity demand growing 3%, faster than energy supply overall. China alone added the equivalent of Germany’s entire annual electricity consumption in a single year. These are just a few of the indications that the future of global energy use is increasingly electric, even as regional paths differ.
In 2025, rising electricity demand was met entirely by low-carbon sources, with renewables and hydro overtaking coal as the largest source of generation. Fossil generation fell overall, demonstrating that fossil fuels are being substituted rather than supplemented.
Solar and storage are clearly taking the lead in the global energy system, and they’re not looking back, as global battery storage capacity grew 66% last year alone. Solar already produces more electricity than gas in major parts of the world, and its lead in power generation will only grow.
In this episode, we are joined by Aditya Lolla, Interim Managing Director at Ember, and Euan Graham, Senior Electricity and Data Analyst at Ember and a lead author of the report, to share the key findings from this new update on all the energy data that matters.
We’ll dig into the report’s new total energy supply measure, which we explored in Episode #259. We’ll hear how China’s road fuel demand is now falling, redefining the assumed long tai