Wind and solar produced 10% of global electricity in first half 2020: Report

Overall electricity demand fell by 3 percent during the six months due to coronavirus lockdowns, the report said. Despite the drop, coal plants still produced 33 percent of the world’s electricity during the period.

"To keep a chance of limiting climate change to 1.5 degrees, coal generation needs to fall by 13 percent every year this decade,” Ember senior analyst Dave Jones said in a statement with the report.

Europe and the UK saw the largest contributions from wind and solar, at 21 percent and 33 percent respectively during the first half of the year, with China at 10 percent and the United States at 12 percent, the report said.

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Coal power generation in the US and Europe fell by 31 percent and 32 percent respectively while coal power in China was down just 2 percent, the report said. Ember’s report examined data from 48 countries which make up 83 percent of global electricity production.