Chile's clean energy march⚡

Hi,

Here’s some good news to start the day:

• President Xi Jinping says China's “more stringent” climate targets for 2035, which’ll be published in the next few months, will cover the whole economy and include all greenhouse gases.

• China now has more wind and solar (1,482GW) than thermal generating capacity, according to local media reports. Solar alone comprises 28% of the country’s power generating capacity.

• And in the first three months of 2025, clean technologies comprised 39% of China’s electricity output, up from 34% a year before, Reuters reported.

• Global sales of electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles rose 29% year-on-year in March, Reuters reported.

• European and UK leaders say they’ll cooperate to bolster energy security, and say switching from imported fossil fuels to domestic clean sources is the only way to do so, Clean Energy Wire reported.

• Finland says it supports a European Union target to cut the bloc's greenhouse gas emissions 90% by 2040, Reuters reported.

• Global coal demand has likely already peaked and will decline 25% over the next decade, according to BloombergNEF’s forecasts.

• On that note, renewables now generate more electricity than coal in America’s Mid-Atlantic region, according to West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

• Britain’s water company bosses will face up to two years in prison and be banned from taking bonuses if they cover up sewage spills under new legislation, Bloomberg reported.

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Thanks for reading.

Nick Hedley

Editor, The Progress Playbook

In numbers: Solar and battery storage powerhouse Chile sets new clean energy records

Chile has reached fresh milestones in its energy transition amid a rapid build-out of solar and battery storage infrastructure.

• In January, coal made up less than 11% of the country’s electrical output, a new monthly low, according to data collated by research group Ember. On the other hand, solar’s share of the mix reached a record monthly high of 29%.

- Read the full story here.

Londoners are swapping cars for bicycles at a rapid pace, data shows

The number of Londoners who cycle regularly has surged over the past few years thanks to a deliberate strategy to promote the healthy, emissions-free mode of transport.

The city’s latest traffic survey, which is conducted every second year during the autumn months, shows that the number of people cycling was 57% higher in 2024 than just two years before, and 70% up from 2017 levels.

- Read the full story here.

A message from The Future of Energy (TFE): TFE is a leading African consultancy at the forefront of driving change in the distributed renewable energy, sustainable infrastructure, and regenerative finance landscapes across the Global South.

These US states are leading the way in curbing methane emissions from landfills

A growing number of US states have set stronger standards than federal regulations to curb methane emissions from landfills, and they’re creating something of a “domino effect” that’s spurring action across the country, according to a new analysis by non-profit think tank RMI.

• Colorado has released “what could become the country’s most effective landfill methane standard.”

- Read the full story here.

How Italy became a global recycling leader

Italy has become the top overall recycling country in the EU and one of the best for household-level recycling — in part by relying on those households to do a lot of the work.

- Read the full story here.

Other articles you might find interesting:

• These countries are leading the solar energy revolution

• How Wales is building a sharing economy through its ‘libraries of things’

• EVs are more reliable than combustion engine cars, data confirms

• What the world can learn from Copenhagen’s cycling revolution

• China’s EV boom set to push gasoline demand off a cliff

• Wind boom helps Finland join the growing list of countries quitting coal power

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