This episode cuts through the noise around energy transition progress with hard data from one of the year's most important reports.
Despite claims from both "fossil gradualists" who would like to see the energy transition fail, and "net-zero puritans" who deny that the energy transition is happening at all because emissions are still rising, the transition is very much under way and gathering momentum. Countries are switching to renewables, electrifying transportation and decarbonizing heating faster than even the most seasoned energy analysts thought was possible, while the fossil fuel holdouts still white-knuckling their strategies are quickly dwindling in number.
Ember, a clean energy think tank, published a report in April titled Global Electricity Review 2025 that plainly lays out these facts. One of its lead authors, Nic Fulghum, joins us to discuss the report's findings in a conversation absolutely packed with the data you can use to win any debate with a transition denier.
Nic outlines how solar is growing faster than any energy source in human history, electrification of transport and heating are advancing quickly enough to materially slash fossil fuel demand, and power generation from fossil fuels is headed into structural decline. Global power-sector emissions may finally be close to peaking, thanks to the accelerating energy transition.
Nicolas Fulghum is a Senior Data Analyst at the global energy think tank Ember, and one of the lead authors of Ember’s flagship report – the Global Electricity Review.
When he first appeared on Episode #254 – Global Electricity Review 2025 in July 2025, Nicolas was a Senior Energy and Climate Data Analyst at Ember and one of the lead authors of that year’s Global Electricity Review. That conversation was re-released as Episode #266 – Global Electricity Review 2025 (Lagniappe edition) in December 2025, and part of it also features in Episode #284 – Faster Than Forecast (2026). He returned in the same role, as one of the report’s lead authors, for Episode #274 – Global Electricity Review 2026 in April 2026, and part of that conversation also features in Episode #285 – Covering Demand Growth (2026).
On Bluesky: @nicolasfulghum.bsky.social
On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolas-fulghum/
On Twitter: @nicolasfulghum
Recording date: May 28, 2025
Air date: July 16, 2025
Geek rating: 8