This is not the end of coal. But it is the beginning of its decline, 

A Historic Milestone

• For the first time ever, renewables — led by solar and wind — generated more electricity than coal globally in the first half of 2025 (5,072 TWh vs 4,896 TWh). This marks a genuine structural shift, not a symbolic moment.

Global Power Dynamics Shift

• China and India are driving the change — scaling renewables and cutting fossil generation — while parts of Europe and the U.S. saw setbacks due to weak policy and rising demand. The energy transition map now runs South and East, not West.

China and India Lead the Industrial Race

• China is the world’s clean-tech factory, exporting over $20 billion worth of green technology in August 2025 alone. India is rapidly adding renewable capacity, meeting new demand without burning more coal.

The Political and Economic Message

• Clean energy is no longer an option — it’s the new economic infrastructure. The fossil era isn’t over, but its dominance is. The challenge now: invest in grids, storage, and skills to turn this technical lead into industrial and social transformation.

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The Hypocrisy Gap

For decades, Western leaders justified inaction by blaming the “dirty development” of Asia. That argument is now dead. The developing world is leading the clean energy race and doing so at scale.

China remains the undisputed heavyweight. It is building renewables faster than the rest of the world combined, while simultaneously exporting the technologies that make that possible.

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India, too, has quietly achieved something extraordinary.

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In August 2025, China’s clean-tech exports led by electric vehicles and batteries hit a record $20 billion.

India, too, has quietly achieved something extraordinary.

•  खुशखबरी: अब कोयले से ज़्यादा सौर-पवन ऊर्जा 

With hundreds of gigawatts of renewable capacity installed, it is adding new solar and wind power fast enough to meet rising demand without increasing fossil fuel use.

That means less coal, cleaner air, and lower import bills.

In short: the future of energy is being built in Beijing, Bangalore, and not in Washington or Brussels.

America’s Retreat and China’s Strategy

The contrast could not be sharper.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) recently halved its forecast for U.S. renewable growth this decade from 500 gigawatts (GW) to 250 GW citing policy reversals under Donald Trump’s administration.

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This is not just climate policy it’s industrial policy with teeth.

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While the U.S. dithers, China is doubling down. It is building supply chains, creating jobs, and locking in market dominance in the sectors that will define the next 50 years: solar modules, EVs, batteries, and green hydrogen.

This is not just climate policy it’s industrial policy with teeth. Clean energy is now the backbone of China’s export economy, and the foundation of its global influence.

The U.S. and EU can still compete, but not by talking about “energy independence” while expanding oil and gas exports.

The Price Revolution

The energy shift has been driven not by morality but by economics. Solar is no longer a niche technology; it’s the cheapest form of new electricity in human history.

Since 1995, solar costs have fallen by more than 99%.

That’s why low-income countries can now go from minimal solar generation to multi-gigawatt capacity in a single year.

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Solar now makes up 58% of all new renewable generation in lower-income nations.

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In 2024, Pakistan imported solar panels capable of generating 17 GW, roughly one-third of its national capacity.

Across Africa, solar imports rose 60% year-on-year, with South Africa, Nigeria, Algeria, and Zambia leading the surge.

Solar now makes up 58% of all new renewable generation in lower-income nations.

In many cases, it’s cheaper and more reliable than grid electricity. That’s not charity that’s simple market logic.

The Limits of the Boom

But the revolution comes with its own complications. Renewables are intermittent, and most national grids were designed for the steady hum of coal and gas.

Without massive upgrades in transmission lines, battery storage, and grid management countries will struggle to integrate variable generation.

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Clean tech can solve one problem while creating another if governments don’t plan ahead.

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In Britain, for example, wind farms are being turned off because the grid can’t carry their electricity south.

That’s not a failure of turbines it’s a failure of planning. And it’s happening everywhere.

There are ecological risks, too.

In Afghanistan, the explosion of solar-powered irrigation has drained groundwater at alarming rates.

Clean tech can solve one problem while creating another if governments don’t plan ahead.

Beyond Electricity: The Harder Battle

Let’s be clear: this “renewables overtook coal” milestone applies only to electricity generation, not total energy use.

Oil and gas still dominate transport, industry, and heating, which together make up the bulk of global emissions.

But progress in the electricity sector matters because it enables everything else. Clean power makes electric vehicles (EVs) more viable, which cuts oil demand.

It also supports electrified manufacturing and green hydrogen. Once electricity goes green, the dominoes can fall quickly if policymakers keep up.

The Global Power Shift

Clean energy is no longer just an environmental story; it’s an industrial arms race.

The nations that control clean-tech manufacturing will control the commanding heights of the 21st-century economy.

China is already there. India is catching up fast.

•  खुशखबरी: अब कोयले से ज़्यादा सौर-पवन ऊर्जा 

The U.S. and EU are hesitating torn between political ideology and economic reality. And the fossil-fuel states that built their wealth on oil and coal face a reckoning.

Every solar module installed, every EV exported, every wind turbine erected shifts the balance of global power.

Energy dominance no longer means having oil wells; it means having gigafactories.

The Work Still to Be Done

Governments must stop treating clean energy as an optional “green” agenda item.

It is now core economic infrastructure, just like roads or ports.

That means:

1.  Stable policy frameworks clear rules, predictable auctions, and grid-connection guarantees.

2.  Massive investment in transmission and storage the “green energy corridors” that move electrons efficiently.

3. Skilled regulators and engineers because the hardware means little without the people to run it.

4. Fair transition plans for coal and oil workers, to prevent backlash and populist exploitation.

The fossil lobby will fight this, as it always has. But delaying change only makes the landing harder economically, socially, and politically.

The Consumer Reality

Many readers will ask: If renewables are booming, why are my bills still high?

The short answer: because governments and utilities are still paying for the inefficiency of legacy systems.

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AI data centers and digital industries are pushing up demand.

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Grid bottlenecks, poor storage, and outdated market designs mean consumers don’t yet see the full price benefit of renewables.

And yes, AI data centers and digital industries are pushing up demand.

But that’s not a reason to cling to fossil fuels it’s a reason to build more clean power, faster.

The Takeaway

Coal is not dead, but its best days are. Renewables have proven they can carry the growth of the global electricity system the first real victory in the fight against fossil dependency.

Now comes the political test: whether leaders treat this as a milestone or as a mandate.

If 2025 marks the year renewables quietly overtook coal, then 2026 must be the year governments stop making excuses. Because the tools, the economics, and the technology are ready.

Only the politics is not.

The future belongs to those who build it not to those who defend the fossils of the past.

(Sources: Reuters, Ember, IEA, Sustainable Views, Government of India, Renewables Now)