Some genuinely good climate news deserves more attention: the share of global electricity produced from fossil gas (methane) fell in 2025 for the fifth year in a row. That is an important milestone–now safely a trend and not a statistical blip.
This matters because methane is a super pollutant and still used far too much. When handled improperly, such as from uncapped wells or leaking pipelines, gas-fed electric power can actually be more polluting than coal. Despite this, some countries are moving in the wrong direction: using gas for electricity more, not less. But the larger story is clear and encouraging. Gas is losing out to cleaner, cheaper, more secure, and faster-to-build electricity from renewable sources.
Source: Ember “Gas share in global power mix has declined for a fifth consecutive year“, Yearly electricity data, Electricity Data Explorer
Why is this happening?
First, solar energy is scaling at extraordinary speed. Solar now accounts for 80%of new electricity sources globally.
Second, the old arguments that proponents of gas used to make–that gas was a necessary “bridge fuel” to cleaner technologies tomorrow and that gas is needed to guarantee electricity day and night because renewables are unreliable –is turning out to be wrong in the real world. In more and more places, a healthy combination of wind, solar, batteries, and other clean technologies can get the job done even when the sun is not shining and the wind is not blowing.
Third, energy security has changed the politics of electricity. Nations reeling from the energy shock of the Iran war are turning to renewables to avoid oil and gas supply chains. Imported gas now looks like a source of price volatility and geopolitical risk rather than a safe bet.
  
Source: Ember “Gas share in global power mix has declined for a fifth consecutive year“, Yearly electricity data, Electricity Data Explorer
Today, many countries are already past “peak demand” for gas power. Ember reports that gas-fired electricity generation has started to decline in nearly half of the economies that use gas for power, including the UK, Germany, Italy, and Japan.
To be clear, gas is not dead; far from it. The IEA projects that total global demand for gas for all uses (not just electricity) may well increase for a decade or two. Yet, real world data showing that gas is losing ground in the power sector is reason for optimism.
