Solar and wind reach 4,000 GW and surpass coal and gas in installed capacity for the first time in human history.

Written by Douglas Avila

Published on 29/04/2026 at 18:38

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In 2025, something that seemed distant became a reality: solar and wind energy combined reached 4,174 gigawatts of installed capacity worldwide — surpassing coal in global electricity generation for the first time in a century. The 4000 GW solar and wind milestone is not just a symbolic number. It is confirmation that the energy transition has ceased to be a promise and has become the dominant movement in global electrical infrastructure. And Brazil is at the center of this revolution — with the second largest portfolio of renewable projects on the planet, behind only China.

The data was compiled by the energy analysis organization Ember and confirmed by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) in April 2026. In 2025, the world added 814 gigawatts of new solar and wind capacity — a historic record representing six times more than all other combined energy sources installed in the same period. To put it in perspective: 814 GW is more than Brazil’s entire installed electrical capacity.

The historic shift was not just in capacity. In actual electricity generation, renewables accounted for 33.8% of global production in 2025 — surpassing coal (33.0%) for the first time in approximately 100 years. An era that began with the Industrial Revolution has come to an end.

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What’s Behind the 4,000 GW Solar and Wind Explosion

The speed of growth would have been impossible to predict two decades ago. In 2015, the world had about 840 GW of combined solar and wind capacity. In 2025, that number reached 4,174 GW — an almost 5-fold increase in ten years. The compound annual growth rate for solar energy during this period was about 15%

Solar and wind reach 4,000 GW and surpass coal and gas in installed capacity for the first time in human history.

What’s Behind the 4,000 GW Solar and Wind Explosion

Gaddafi built the world’s largest artificial river under the Sahara — it’s 4,000 km of giant pipes that pump 40,000-year-old fossil water to entire cities in Libya.

The Soviet Union spent 22 years drilling into the Earth’s crust and reached a depth of 12,262 meters — they found water where it was thought impossible, hydrogen bubbling from the rock, granite that is 2.7 billion years old, and temperatures of 180 degrees that melted the drill bits.

Discovery in Africa scares even scientists: a study published on April 23 reveals that the crust in Turkana has become so thin that it could pave the way for the continent’s division and the emergence of an ocean in the future, in a gigantic geological transformation.

A German architect built a cylindrical house in 1994 that rotates to follow the sun throughout the day, generates 5 times more energy than it consumes, and was the world’s first energy-positive house.

Two African countries will inaugurate in 4 days an 825-meter bridge suspended 90 meters high over a reservoir — it is the largest of three bridges of a megaproject that will supply millions of people.

Brazil spent R$ 1.9 billion on a giant bridge to Paraguay, and it is already finished, but no one can use it properly because the access points are not ready, and traffic remains blocked months later.

Is anonymity in travel over? Hotels, inns, and hostels will have mandatory government digital forms with QR Code, online pre-check-in, and a national guest registry across Brazil.

How much a poll worker earns in Brazilian elections is a question millions of summoned people have, and the answer includes a food allowance, days off, and even an advantage in public competitive exams.

Low-wage workers are losing their PIS/Pasep without even realizing it because the government changed the adjustment rule, and anyone who receives any salary increase may lose eligibility for the benefit.

The world’s largest soybean meal importer is rejecting shipments from South America due to an unauthorized gene. Prices have already soared almost 5% in a month on the Chicago Board of Trade, and Brazil is racing against time to avoid being blocked as well and losing its biggest buyer market.

Brazil has just launched a 52-meter war machine into the sea that almost no one knew about, and its secret mission involves monitoring a region of the ocean that could change the energy future of the entire country.

Solar and wind reach 4,000 GW and surpass coal and gas in installed capacity for the first time in human history.

What’s Behind the 4,000 GW Solar and Wind Explosion

Gaddafi built the world’s largest artificial river under the Sahara — it’s 4,000 km of giant pipes that pump 40,000-year-old fossil water to entire cities in Libya.

The Soviet Union spent 22 years drilling into the Earth’s crust and reached a depth of 12,262 meters — they found water where it was thought impossible, hydrogen bubbling from the rock, granite that is 2.7 billion years old, and temperatures of 180 degrees that melted the drill bits.

Discovery in Africa scares even scientists: a study published on April 23 reveals that the crust in Turkana has become so thin that it could pave the way for the continent’s division and the emergence of an ocean in the future, in a gigantic geological transformation.

A German architect built a cylindrical house in 1994 that rotates to follow the sun throughout the day, generates 5 times more energy than it consumes, and was the world’s first energy-positive house.

Two African countries will inaugurate in 4 days an 825-meter bridge suspended 90 meters high over a reservoir — it is the largest of three bridges of a megaproject that will supply millions of people.

Brazil spent R$ 1.9 billion on a giant bridge to Paraguay, and it is already finished, but no one can use it properly because the access points are not ready, and traffic remains blocked months later.

Xiaomi broke the 4 GHz barrier on a smartphone chip — and did it without the big cores that everyone thought were mandatory…

The Amazon began to fail silently — and researchers discovered that the 2023 drought caused the planet’s largest forest to emit carbon instead of absorbing it…

The Southern Ocean shifted state so suddenly that climate models lagged behind — and the change is already affecting the climate of the entire planet…

The Brazilian solar market grew 400% with batteries — and most Brazilians still don’t know what this will do to their electricity bill…

An Australian mining company arrived in Poços de Caldas to extract rare earths — and Brazil still hasn’t decided if it really wants to hand over its minerals of the future to foreigners…

Is anonymity in travel over? Hotels, inns, and hostels will have mandatory government digital forms with QR Code, online pre-check-in, and a national guest registry across Brazil.

How much a poll worker earns in Brazilian elections is a question millions of summoned people have, and the answer includes a food allowance, days off, and even an advantage in public competitive exams.

Low-wage workers are losing their PIS/Pasep without even realizing it because the government changed the adjustment rule, and anyone who receives any salary increase may lose eligibility for the benefit.

The world’s largest soybean meal importer is rejecting shipments from South America due to an unauthorized gene. Prices have already soared almost 5% in a month on the Chicago Board of Trade, and Brazil is racing against time to avoid being blocked as well and losing its biggest buyer market.

Brazil has just launched a 52-meter war machine into the sea that almost no one knew about, and its secret mission involves monitoring a region of the ocean that could change the energy future of the entire country.