u/HairyPossibility

In 2025, the world installed 814 GW of new solar and wind capacity, compared with just 158 GW of gross fossil (coal + gas + oil).

"The 2025 build alone adds enough clean capacity to replace roughly one-seventh of global gas generation, and helped renewables overtake coal in global electricity production for the first time. These trends have not slowed in 2026."

When “King Coal or King Solar?” ran in The Conversation back in 2012, we argued that the real contest was in new capacity, not in the legacy fleet.

Fourteen years on, our updated chart shows how decisively that bet has paid off: In 2025 the world installed 814 GW of new solar and wind, compared with just 158 GW of gross fossil (coal + gas + oil) and only about 131 GW of net fossil once fossil retirements are counted. https://reneweconomy.com.au/chart-of-the-day-farewell-king-coal-long-live-king-solar-and-wind-and-batteries/

And this leads to Less oil..

The countries leading EV adoption are almost identical to the countries with the cleanest grids, and that's not a coincidence. Norway hit 92% EV market share in 2024, Sweden 58%, Denmark 56%, Finland 50%. What do they share? Norway generates over 95% of its electricity from hydropower, making the carbon footprint of driving an EV there exceptionally low. Norwegian EVs are effectively charged on 100% carbon-free, low-cost electricity. China tells the same story at scale: wind and solar electricity generation rose 25% in 2024, and clean energy growth accounted for 84% of all electricity demand growth that year. Meanwhile China hit 48% EV market share in 2024. The mechanism is straightforward: a green grid lowers the real-world carbon cost of EV ownership, reduces consumer hesitation, keeps running costs down, and creates a policy feedback loop where governments committed to renewables are also committed to electrifying transport. The grid isn't a footnote to EV adoption. It's the prerequisite.

Norway's 98% renewable grid as explicit EV policy enablerhttps://www.axios.com/the-lessons-of-norways-rapid-electric-vehicle-adoption-76a5c43b-8c6b-4760-9ec8-0b5564153de5.html