In what could mark a historic global energy shift, new analysis from the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) reveals that the world’s three largest coal growth markets, China, India, and Indonesia, are on track to peak their power sector emissions by 2030. Together, these nations accounted for a staggering 73% of global coal consumption in 2024, making this potential turnaround a defining moment in the fight against climate change

China: Clean Energy Outpaces Demand

China has already reached a milestone that once seemed improbable: clean energy growth has outpaced the rise in electricity demand, leading to a fall in coal power emissions since early 2024

In 2024 alone, the country added 277 GW of solar capacity and 80 GW of wind, with an additional 212 GW of solar in just the first half of 2025. “Since I announced China’s goals for carbon peaking and carbon neutrality five years ago, China has built the world’s largest and fastest-growing renewable energy system,” President Xi Jinping declared earlier this year.

If current trends continue, China’s coal use may never return to previous highs. But sustaining this progress depends on meeting its 2035 clean energy targets and avoiding a slowdown in installations.

“China has already added enough new clean electricity generation to cover all new demand growth, and power sector coal use and emissions have been falling since 2024 as a result,” said Lauri Myllyvirta, CREA’s Lead Analyst, in the report.

India: Rapid Clean Energy Expansion Takes Off

India’s clean electricity boom, once stalled, has roared to life. In 2024, the country added a record 29 GW of non-fossil capacity, and by mid-2025, that pace had surged by 69% year-on-year.

With Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 500 GW clean power target by 2030, India is already more than halfway there. The nation’s growing domestic solar manufacturing base—118 GW of module capacity and 27 GW of solar cells—is transforming it into a global solar hub.

“Meeting India’s 500 GW non-fossil power capacity target could peak coal power before 2030,” said Manoj Kumar, CREA Analyst. “Strengthening grid flexibility, storage, and transmission will be key to sustaining this momentum.”

India’s Coal Economics Have Flipped

A new report from Ember (October 2025) adds powerful economic validation to CREA’s projection.

Titled “Adding coal beyond the National Electricity Plan 2032 targets is uneconomical for India,” Ember’s findings confirm that building more coal plants is no longer cost-effective or necessary.

Ember’s least-cost operations model shows that if India meets its National Electricity Plan (NEP) 2032 targets for renewables and storage:

• 10% of new coal units built after FY2024–25 will be completely unutilised by 2031–32

• 25% of the coal fleet will be heavily underutilised

• Coal-based electricity will become 25% more expensive by 2031–32 as utilisation drops

“Building coal beyond the current pipeline is neither necessary nor economical for the country,” said Neshwin Rodrigues, Senior Energy Analyst at Ember.

Ember’s study aligns with CREA’s broader conclusion — India’s clean energy growth is not only sufficient to meet new demand but also the cheapest and most reliable path forward.

Indonesia: Big Solar Vision vs. Fossil Reality

Indonesia’s new president Prabowo Subianto has laid out a bold plan for 100 GW of solar capacity and a 100% renewable power system by 2035. If fully realized, this initiative alone could cause coal power to peak by 2030.

However, Indonesia’s official power plan—the RUPTL 2025–34—still leans heavily on new coal and gas plants. CREA’s analysis warns that without strong oversight and power market reforms, Indonesia’s solar revolution could stall.

“The real opportunity lies in translating this vision into a concrete delivery roadmap that positions clean energy to dominate new capacity additions,” said Katherine Hasan, CREA Analyst.

The Economics of Change

Across all three nations, clean energy’s economic edge is becoming undeniable.

The cost of solar panels has dropped 60% since 2022, while battery storage prices fell 50% between 2022 and 2024. In China, clean energy industries now make up over 10% of GDP, fuelling jobs and innovation. India’s solar bids are now cheaper than coal tariffs, and Indonesia’s strong sunlight potential could soon make solar the most cost-effective option for households.

CREA’s report also highlights that these clean energy drives align with national priorities: energy independence, industrial growth, and improved air quality.

A Common Threat: Coal’s Last Stand

Despite rapid progress, the report warns of a looming obstacle—new coal projects. China currently has 230 GW of coal-fired power under construction, and India plans 100 GW more by 2035.  “Unchecked coal power expansion risks creating powerful vested interests that could delay the energy transition,” Myllyvirta cautioned. A rapid phase-down post-2030, he added, could cut emissions equivalent to India’s entire 2019 CO2 output.

A Turning Point for BRICS and the Planet

If successful, China, India, and Indonesia would join Brazil, South Africa, the UAE, and Ethiopia—other BRICS members that have already peaked their power emissions—transforming the bloc into an unexpected climate leader.

But the next few years are pivotal. Whether these nations sustain their clean energy momentum or fall back into fossil dependence could determine the world’s ability to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement.

As CREA concludes in the report, the road to peaking emissions is now open—what remains is the political will to walk it.

India’s flagship Pradhan Mantri Surya Ghar Yojana (PMSGY) has given a major push to the country’s residential rooftop solar (RTS) sector, adding nearly 4.9 gigawatts (GW) of new capacity in just over a year since its launch. Yet, according to a new report by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) and JMK Research & Analytics, challenges in financing, supply chains, and consumer awareness continue to slow progress toward national targets.

The report, Advancing Residential Rooftop Solar Adoption in India under PM Surya Ghar Yojana, notes that as of July 2025, over 57.9 lakh households have applied for rooftop solar systems under the scheme. Despite this surge — a fourfold rise in applications since March 2024 — only 22.7% have translated into actual installations.

“PMSGY has steadily expanded its policy framework to speed up residential rooftop solar adoption. Since 2024, it has rolled out a nationwide capacity-building programme to train over three lakh people and help vendors, utilities and financiers upskill,” says, Jyoti Gulia, Founder, JMK Research.

Gujarat, Kerala Lead the Way

Gujarat has emerged as the clear front-runner, boasting 1,491 MW of installed residential rooftop capacity — the highest in the country. Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, and Rajasthan follow, together accounting for more than 77% of total installations under the programme.

These states’ success is credited to their mature solar ecosystems, strong vendor bases, and high consumer awareness. Gujarat and Kerala, for instance, have achieved conversion ratios of over 65%, far above the national average.

However, Kerala’s success has been uneven. As highlighted in an EdPublica investigation — Why Kerala Has Struggled to Replicate Perinjanam’s Solar Success — the state’s progress has been shaped by strong community-led models like Perinjanam’s solar initiative, but replication across districts has faced institutional and financial hurdles. Local leadership and decentralised governance, experts argue, remain key to scaling up such success stories statewide.

Financing, Awareness, and Supply Chain Barriers

Despite the scheme’s momentum, several bottlenecks remain. The report highlights that low consumer awareness of financing options, complicated loan procedures, and technical glitches in the grievance redressal system hinder wider adoption.

“However, low consumer awareness and access to finance remain significant barriers to the adoption of rooftop solar. Outdated perceptions of high upfront costs and maintenance persist, especially in rural areas,” says Prabhakar Sharma, Senior Consultant, JMK Research.

Fragmented supply chains for critical components such as solar panels, inverters, and mounting structures have also caused project delays.

“Establishing clear, time-bound rooftop solar capacity targets at the state level is essential for creating a coherent vision and ensuring effective policy execution,” Vibhuti Garg, Director, IEEFA – South Asia, points out.

Need for Stronger Local Implementation

The report notes that although a grievance redressal mechanism has been set up under PMSGY, its effectiveness remains limited. “PMSGY should establish a district-level escalation matrix so that subsidy disbursement delays, incorrect data entries or portal malfunctions can be routed beyond the DISCOM or portal level,” Aman Gupta, Research Associate, JMK Research says.

Analysts recommend creating state and district facilitation cells to guide consumers through the application and subsidy process, along with extensive public awareness campaigns to educate households about long-term savings from rooftop solar.

Standardisation and Plug-and-Play Solutions

The report stresses the need for standardised rooftop solar kits that integrate panels, inverters, and cables into ready-to-install packages.

“The rooftop solar market continues to face fragmented quality and weak end-to-end guarantees, challenges that standardised plug-and-play solutions can resolve,” Prabhakar Sharma adds.

Promoting the commoditisation of rooftop systems, the authors argue, can help speed up installations and minimise delays.

Beyond Subsidies: Building a Solar-Ready Ecosystem

While the central government has disbursed over INR 9,280 crore (US$1.05 billion) in subsidies so far — just 14% of the total allocated under PMSGY — experts caution that subsidies alone won’t ensure success.

“The long-term success of PMSGY hinges not only on the provision of subsidies but also on its ability to institutionalise streamlined digital processes, standardised product solutions, and consumer-centric support systems,” according to the Report authors’ conclusion.

To meet the ambitious 30GW rooftop solar target by FY2027, India will need to bridge the financing gap, build local capacity, and simplify consumer experiences — transforming rooftops across urban and rural India into decentralised clean energy generators.

In a leap forward for hydrogen technology, engineers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have developed a new palladium membrane that remains stable and efficient even at high temperatures, paving the way for cleaner, large-scale hydrogen production. This innovation could help unlock the full potential of a hydrogen-based energy economy by overcoming durability limits that have restricted palladium membranes in the past.

Palladium, a silvery metal, is prized for letting hydrogen pass while blocking all other gases, making it invaluable in filtering and generating pure hydrogen for industries like semiconductor manufacturing, food processing, and fertilizer production. Traditional palladium membranes, however, degrade if exposed to temperatures above about 800 kelvins, restricting their usefulness in high-temperature hydrogen-generating processes.

The new solution from MIT replaces the vulnerable continuous films with a design where palladium is deposited as “plugs” in the pores of a supporting material(see the generated image above). These snug-fitting plugs stay stable and continue separating hydrogen at high temperatures—unlocking opportunities for hydrogen-fuel technologies like compact steam methane reforming and ammonia cracking, which demand resilient membranes for zero-carbon fuel and energy.

“With further work on scaling and validating performance under realistic industrial feeds, the design could represent a promising route toward practical membranes for high-temperature hydrogen production,” said Lohyun Kim PhD ’24 in a media statement