Renewables have edged out coal as the biggest source of electricity in the first half of this year, according to the Ember report of the global power sector. The trends suggested by the report, published last week, may not be conclusive enough to rule out the influential hypothesis that the increasing deployment of clean energy will not necessarily lead to a decline in fossil fuel use over the long-term. Yet, the marginal difference — barely 1 per cent — between polluting and non-polluting sources of power is encouraging because renewables have made inroads amid a growing appetite for electricity in a world roiled by geopolitical crises that have deeply impacted the energy market. The report highlights that record solar-power generation and a steady expansion of wind energy helped renewables keep pace with the increasing demand for electricity to power traditional industrial units, keep buildings cool in the face of rising temperatures, drive electric vehicles, and operate new sources of economic activity, such as data centres.

The fine print of the Ember report, however, reveals both positives and negatives. Much of the growth in clean energy has come in China, where a growing fleet of solar-powered stations has outpaced coal energy plants. In India too, the clean-energy graph is headed northward, and the country is on course to become the second-largest renewables market by 2030. In several developing countries in Asia and Africa, policies that encourage the development of green-technology solar power have driven a climate-friendly energy transition. The outlook, however, is not that rosy in most parts of the developed world. In Europe, poor wind conditions and drought precipitated a more than 14 per cent rise in fossil-fuel electricity generation, reminding policymakers that much needs to be done to mitigate the precarity of renewable energy. In the US, clean-energy policies have hit a roadblock, largely because of President Donald Trump’s climate denialism and his strident advocacy of fossil fuels. In July, the Congress voted to phase out the tax credit support for wind and solar power. The International Energy Agency has lowered America’s renewable capacity growth expectations by 50 per cent compared to last year. The agency reckons that the attainment of its global target for 2030 will largely depend on how developed countries overcome the recent barriers to climate adaptation.