Here’s some good news: Clean power met all electricity demand growth last year for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic. That’s according to a new report on global electricity trends from Ember, a U.K. think tank that tracks energy data from around the world. The new review suggests that solar and batteries are continuing to remake the global power system — and outcompeting gas and coal in some of the world’s fastest growing economies.

On this week’s episode of Shift Key, Rob is joined by Nicolas Fulghum, the lead author of Ember’s new report and an energy and climate data analyst at the think tank. They discuss why solar keeps breaking records, whether India’s energy development trajectory has changed, and how the Iran War could change this year’s numbers.

Shift Key is hosted by Robinson Meyer, the founding executive editor of Heatmap News.

You can find a complete transcript of the episode here.

Mentioned:

Ember’s Global Electricity Review 2026

Previously on Shift Key: Nobody in the West Knows How to Respond to the ‘Electrotech Revolution’

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This episode of Shift Key is sponsored by ...

Salesforce is the No. 1 AI CRM, where humans with agents drive success together. We invest in bold climate technologies and leverage agentic AI to accelerate nature-based solutions that benefit people and the planet. Learn more. You can also learn more about Salesforce's investments in watersheds here.

Music for Shift Key is by Adam Kromelow.

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