New report reveals historic milestone – Portugal meets 95% of its electricity needs with clean energy – here’s what it means for the rest of the world

In April 2024, 95% of Portugal’s electricity came from renewable sources, making it a leader in clean energy in Europe and the world.

According to Euronews Green, this inspiring statistic is just one victory in an overall “continental shift” – in April, “fossil fuels provided less than a quarter of the EU’s energy for the first time in history.”

According to National Grid, renewable energy comes from natural and self-replenishing sources, so there will be no shortage of it. By April, 48% of Portugal’s renewable energy in 2024 came from hydro, 30% from wind and 7% from solar.

According to Euronews Green, Portugal has set itself up for success in a number of ways, including phasing out coal-fired power in 2021 and expanding its hydropower fleet with additional storage capacity.

Dirty energy sources, including coal, gas and oil, are not renewable. According to National Grid, these resources are finite and can take hundreds of thousands of years to form, after which they must be extracted from the earth and burned to produce energy. Burning dirty fuel is a major contributor to atmospheric warming.

Redistributing energy consumption towards renewable resources will contribute to progress towards a future that is cleaner, safer and cheaper for all. New research shows that decarbonizing energy sources “could save trillions of dollars over the next 20 years or so,” according to Science News Explores.

Significant changes in energy consumption are already being introduced. In California, renewable energy sources provided the state with 100% of its energy needs on 25 of 32 days. In Nevada, a developing water storage project could supply the state with one-eighth of its energy needs on its own.

According to Euronews Green, an environmental think tank called Ember found that over 30% of the world’s electricity is now generated using renewable energy.

“Solar energy in particular,” said Dave Jones, Ember’s director of global analytics, “is accelerating faster than anyone thought possible.”

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