Power, transport, heat and industrial uses. Fossil = oil + gas + coal. EI coverage excludes some traditional biomass. More supply is not automatically greater efficiency or independence.
+ more / − less annual generation. China adds 1,583 TWh of wind and solar output; the other three together add 874 TWh. Other includes bioenergy, other renewables and other fossil.
Different sources of growth
The U.S. adds solar and gas. India adds coal. In the EU, wind and solar rise as other output falls. China’s wind and solar gain is larger than the other three combined, but its coal generation grows too.
The comparison concerns changes in annual output, not the cumulative electricity generated over five years.
Energy is bigger than electricity
The first panel includes fuel use beyond power stations. The second examines electricity generation only. The two panels use different measures and cannot be added. Higher energy supply alone is not a ranking of technology, efficiency or energy independence.
2020 was a pandemic year. These are 2020–2025 comparisons, not forecasts or claims about 2026 growth.
Sources, Method & Data
Panel 1 uses EI Statistical Review 2026 total energy supply under its physical-energy-content method, in EJ. Fossil = oil + gas + coal. Non-fossil = nuclear + hydro + solar + wind + other renewables, as covered by EI; commercially recorded energy including modern renewables, not complete coverage of traditional/noncommercial biomass. TES is not useful final energy, domestic production or energy independence. Wind/solar enter as electricity output; thermal sources include conversion losses, so source shares are not equivalent to electricity shares. China means mainland China; U.S. territories are excluded. The official Total EU aggregate covers the current 27 members. 2025 annual values; 2020–2025 change is a ratio of annual totals, not EI’s leap-year-adjusted growth series. Numbers rounded for display. Direct EI downloads were blocked; unchanged EI CSV/XLSX snapshots archived by Our World in Data were used, with matching source checksums.
Panel 2 uses Ember’s separate gross-electricity-generation dataset. 2025 values are estimates based on monthly generation data and may be revised. Each cell is annual 2025 output minus annual 2020 output, in TWh, not cumulative generation over five years. Other = bioenergy + other renewables + other fossil. The net row is the total-generation difference; displayed rounded cells may not add exactly. An output increase is not the same as installed capacity: weather, plant use and outages matter. Renewables and thermal energy have different conversion losses. The four regions are selected comparisons, not a world total or a country ranking of technological quality.
China’s wind/solar change: 913.83 + 668.95 = 1,582.78 TWh. Other three: 384.55 + 303.08 + 186.63 = 874.26 TWh. EU net output grows 43.80 TWh; wind/solar grows 303.08 while fossil output falls 200.09. Sources published June 30 and April 21, 2026; accessed October 6, 2026.
EI data and methodology · Ember source and methods
| Region | 2025 EJ | Fossil share % | 2020 EJ | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| China | 162.193 | 87.55 | 135.448 | +19.75 |
| USA | 93.829 | 83.17 | 86.185 | +8.87 |
| EU27 | 52.193 | 73.20 | 53.458 | -2.37 |
| India | 39.099 | 92.99 | 30.055 | +30.09 |
| Region | Oil | Gas | Coal | Nuclear | Hydro | Solar | Wind | Other renewables |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| China | 33.845 | 15.910 | 92.239 | 5.293 | 5.012 | 4.224 | 4.061 | 1.611 |
| USA | 36.424 | 32.884 | 8.730 | 9.012 | 0.879 | 1.414 | 1.689 | 2.797 |
| EU27 | 21.766 | 11.852 | 4.589 | 7.103 | 1.155 | 1.340 | 1.728 | 2.660 |
| India | 10.892 | 2.396 | 23.071 | 0.587 | 0.642 | 0.607 | 0.374 | 0.530 |
| Source | China | U.S. | EU-27 | India |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Solar | +913.83 | +258.10 | +222.44 | +143.08 |
| Wind | +668.95 | +126.45 | +80.64 | +43.55 |
| Coal | +835.09 | -36.24 | -95.54 | +330.37 |
| Gas | +81.92 | +183.17 | -93.24 | -26.25 |
| Nuclear | +121.98 | -5.10 | -31.10 | +9.22 |
| Hydro | +77.57 | -38.25 | -20.72 | +14.03 |
| Other | +113.60 | -11.52 | -18.68 | +4.17 |