According to the International Energy Agency ( IEA ) , renewable electricity has overtaken natural gas this month to become the second largest source of global electricity behind coal . The new figures follow announcements from Scotland that wind power in July provided enough electricity to power 72% of all Scottish homes, providing more than 660,000MWh of electricity to the national grid. Global electricity production from renewable sources reached 22 % ( 345 TWh ) , whereas coal was far in the lead at 41 % ( 9,613 TWh ) of global electricity produced . Recent increases in solar and wind power have driven up the overall figures for renewable electricity generation , solar pv capacity at the start of 2015 was 79 % ( 1.4GW ) with onshore and offshore wind increasing by a total of 1.9GW .
According to the International Energy Agency ( IEA ) , renewable electricity has overtaken natural gas this month to become the second largest source of global electricity behind coal . Global electricity production from renewable sources reached 22 % ( 345 TWh ) , whereas coal was far in the lead at 41 % ( 9,613 TWh ) of global electricity produced . Recent increases in solar and wind power have driven up the overall figures for renewable electricity generation , solar pv capacity at the start of 2015 was 79 % ( 1.4GW ) with onshore and offshore wind increasing by a total of 1.9GW .