While fossil fuels still dominate the energy industry in the majority of the world, promising statistics indicate a shift towards a greener future.
It’s been established: humanity’s current main energy sources are unmaintainable and destructive. Land is being destroyed, air quality is becoming increasingly unhealthy, and oceans are becoming highly acidic due to their absorption of rising atmospheric carbon dioxide levels. This has been the unfortunate reality for many years, and it’s becoming harder and harder to deny this shift. One of the main steps humanity must take is to begin prioritizing renewable energy over the current main energy sources.
Folks are working on it. Scientists, advocates, and engineers have attempted to make clean energy as low impact as possible and even more affordable and accessible than current energy sources, and widely have succeeded (although new innovations are being discovered every day). Methods such as solar, wind, and hydro have been around for years, and continue to be improved and optimized. At this point, a societal shift is not only required, but it’s actually a feasible option.
However, America still relies heavily on non-renewables. In 2023, ~83% of energy came from fossil fuel. It seems that advocacy for a nationwide switch to green energy has found little traction. Why? Renewable energy methods have not been implemented on a broad, public scale due to factors such as upfront capital costs, the unpredictability of wind and sun, and lobbying from Big Oil. With prominent politicians calling renewable energy “the scam of the century”, and powerful corporations working to maintain America’s dependence on oil, it’s no wonder that a greener future seems like a distant dream to many.
However, to lose all optimism would be foolish. There are still some achievements that were made in the year of 2025 that hint of a future where such obstacles are only an uncomfortable memory. While America continues to lag behind in this aspect, renewable energy growth worldwide has accelerated.
In 2025, renewable energy reached a record 34.3% of total generated electricity worldwide. In fact, it surpassed coal, at 33.1%. This is a fantastic and encouraging sign. Across the globe, more and more countries have set goals to increase their renewable energy production capacities, in sectors from transport to manufacturing, in addition to the change that has already happened.
These investments are not only a step towards a healthy environment. They actively lower costs for millions of people. Renewable energy projects are great investments, with solar energy costing 41% cheaper and onshore wind costing 53% cheaper than fossil fuels. When a country bears the initial capital cost for renewable energy infrastructure, it and its citizens reap the benefits for years to come.
I look forward to a future where non-renewable energy is a thing of the past. What about you?
