According to two newly released United Nations reports, renewable energy has passed a “positive tipping point”, with solar power now 41 per cent cheaper than fossil fuels. Fifteen years ago, solar power cost nearly four times as much as fossil fuels.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres said in a speech on July 22 that “the fossil fuel age is flailing and failing”, citing figures from the reports which found that green energy outpaced fossil fuel investments by US$800 billion in 2024 alone.
The reports highlighted several key findings:
“The cost of utility-scale solar PV has fallen by 80–90% each decade since 1960, whereas the costs of fossil fuels are highly volatile and show no long-term decrease.”
“New solar PV has been undercutting new coal- and gas-fired power plants in most of the world for six years, and the gap in their average lifetime electricity generation costs continues to widen in favour of solar.”
“Global manufacturing capacity of renewable energy technologies is outstripping demand: Announced solar PV and battery projects can already cover the global deployment needs of the tripling renewable capacity by 2030 goal.”
This shows that renewables are not just keeping up as an energy source, but racing. The global manufacturing capacity of renewable energy technologies is already enough to meet the ambitious target of tripling renewables by 2030. Furthermore, solar PV and battery projects are scaling up faster than ever.
Electric vehicles also surged from 500,000 on the roads in 2015 to over 17 million today. In just the last year, electricity generated from wind, solar, and other clean sources grew by 74 per cent. In fact, 92.5 per cent of all new electricity capacity added to the grid in the past year came from renewables.
Guterres also highlighted how renewables offer energy security. “There are no price spikes for sunlight…no embargoes on wind,” he said.
“[Climate change] is not inevitable. We have the tools, the instruments, the capacity to change course. There are reasons to be hopeful.”
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