How the world makes its electricity
Thirteen technologies, one consistent lens: how each works, what it costs, how much carbon and land it needs, and how fast it is growing. World data from Ember, the Energy Institute and Our World in Data.
World electricity mix, 2025
31,772 TWhRenewables
Flows of energy that are replenished naturally.
Solar power
Photovoltaic panels turn sunlight directly into electricity — now the fastest-growing source of power in history.
Wind power
Onshore and offshore turbines capture the kinetic energy of moving air; output scales with the cube of wind speed.
Hydropower
Falling water spinning turbines — the largest renewable source of electricity and the backbone of grid storage.
Geothermal energy
Heat from the Earth’s crust drives turbines around the clock in volcanic regions, and heat pumps everywhere.
Bioenergy
Wood, residues, biogas and waste burned for power and heat — renewable, dispatchable and controversial.
Concentrated solar power
Mirrors concentrate sunlight to heat molten salt or oil, generating steam — with thermal storage for night-time output.
Marine energy
Tides, waves and ocean heat: vast, predictable resources that remain at early-commercial scale.
Low-carbon firm power
Non-renewable but near-zero operational emissions.
Fossil fuels
Still about 60% of world electricity.
Natural gas power
Gas turbines and combined-cycle plants: flexible, dispatchable and about half the CO₂ of coal per kWh.
Coal power
Still the single largest source of electricity — and of energy-related CO₂ and air-pollution deaths.
Oil-fired power
Diesel gensets and oil-fired steam plants: expensive, polluting, but still vital on islands and remote grids.
Storage & energy carriers
Shift energy in time and into hard-to-electrify sectors.
Battery storage
Lithium-ion and emerging chemistries shift solar and wind in time and stabilise grid frequency within milliseconds.
Green hydrogen
Electrolysers split water with renewable power, producing a fuel for steel, fertiliser, shipping and long-duration storage.