There is an old narrative that states that the energy transition is a chimera, and that clean energies can barely be a complement to a system that will necessarily remain anchored in fossil fuels. But the data tell a very different story. We are living the fastest energy transformation in history, and money is the clearest proof of it.
Short. World energy investment for all 2025 is estimated at 3.3 billion dollars. According to the International Energy Agency, 2.2 of those billion are destined for clean energy technologies and infrastructure. Two thirds of the investment.
Just a decade ago, this proportion was unthinkable. It is invested in energies without emissions almost double what is invested in fossil fuels, a reality that shows that financial markets have chosen a clear side.
The star king. The greatest transforming force of this transition is photovoltaic solar energy, with a global investment of 450,000 million dollars planned by 2025. This leadership is not accidental. Solar panels have gone from being the option for becoming the most economical way to generate electricity in much of the planet.
Each dollar invested solar technology generates 2.5 times more energy that a decade ago. In 2015, the investment ratio between clean energy and fossil fuels was 2 to 1. in 2024, that relationship reached 10 to 1, largely thanks to the collapse of the prices of photovoltaic components.
Unless sorrete. The growing domain of renewables is not only reflected in investment, but also in their role in the Mix. In 2025, renewables will overcome coal as the first source of electricity in the world. Coal will fall below 33% in the energy mix for the first time in a century, and renewables providing more than a third of the global generation.
For now, it is not a homogeneous change. The bulk of the investment is concentrated in developed economies and in China, which in 2024 mobilized more than 625,000 million dollars in clean energy. Emerging markets and developing economies barely represent around 15% of world expenditure on clean energy. But the projection is global: starting from a very low base, the investment in these other regions has grown 50% since 2020.
The beginning of the end for fossil fuels. The formula is simple: as the renewables become cheaper and more efficient, they move to fossil fuels. A few months ago, the United Kingdom closed its last coal central. Its emissions have already fallen more than 50% compared to 1990. In 2025, for the first time, coal generated less than half of Poland’s electricity.
Although the path to total decarbonization still has huge challenges (such as the modernization of electrical networks, which remain a bottleneck, as we have seen clear in Spain), renewables have reached a turning point, at least in the face of investors. The combination of solar, wind and battery storage is increasingly cheaper and reliable. The adoption, which was slow at the beginning, is now an exponential curve.
Imagen | IEA (CC BY 4.0)
In WorldOfSoftware | Forget the industrial revolution: the fastest energy change in human history is happening now
