Wind and solar passed gas for the first time
Wind and solar generated 531 terawatt hours of electricity worldwide in April 2026, 22% of the global total, according to Ember, an energy data research group, as reported by pv magazine. That passed gas, which supplied 477 terawatt hours, 20% of the total, the same month. A terawatt hour is a unit of electricity equal to 1 billion kilowatt hours, enough to describe output at the scale of a whole country. The 54 terawatt hour gap is the first time wind and solar produced more electricity than gas worldwide in a single month. Five years earlier, in April 2021, wind and solar produced 245 terawatt hours while gas produced roughly 476 terawatt hours, little changed since. Wind and solar more than doubled their output in 5 years while gas held nearly flat. The growth was broad, not the result of 1 country. Wind and solar output grew 35% year over year in the United Kingdom, 24% in Chile, 13% worldwide, 8% in the United States, and 4% in Brazil, all measured from April 2025 to April 2026.
Gas held roughly steady over the 5 years while wind and solar output more than doubled, which is what closed the gap between them.
Show the numbers
| Wind and solar April 2021 | 245 |
| Gas April 2021 | 476 |
| Wind and solar April 2026 | 531 |
| Gas April 2026 | 477 |
That same growth is why a global wildlife treaty is now asking whether renewable energy hurts wildlife.
These 5 places are the fastest, the slowest, and the world total Ember tracked, out of 7 places and the global figure reported.
Show the numbers
| United Kingdom | 35 |
| Chile | 24 |
| Global | 13 |
| United States | 8 |
| Brazil | 4 |
Does renewable energy hurt wildlife
The Convention on Migratory Species, a United Nations treaty body whose member governments cooperate to protect animals that cross borders, adopted Resolution 11.27 at its March 2026 conference in Campo Grande, Brazil. The resolution states plainly that the rapid growth of renewable energy infrastructure is already affecting migratory species through collision deaths, habitat loss, and habitat fragmentation, meaning a habitat broken into smaller pieces animals cannot move freely between. It cites a projection from the International Energy Agency that wind, solar, and biomass power generation will triple by 2035. Reading the resolution text directly, not a summary of it, shows the treaty does more than warn in general terms. It requires member governments to map wind turbine sites for sensitivity to bird and bat collisions before construction begins, and to steer new solar projects away from protected and semi natural land.
A 2022 United States Geological Survey study, still cited in 2026 as the live scientific record, found 48% of 23 priority bird species assessed in California highly or moderately vulnerable to population level harm, meaning enough deaths to shrink a whole population rather than kill individual birds alone, from wind and solar facility fatalities.
The results of this research matter because nearly all environmental impact assessments conducted at renewable energy facilities focus on local subpopulations to estimate consequences of fatalities.
Tara Conkling, wildlife biologist with the United States Geological Survey. Source 3.
The tension ahead
Neither the treaty nor the scientists behind the 2022 study are calling for renewable energy to slow down. The International Union for Conservation of Nature said in March 2026 that the gap it sees is inconsistent and incomplete environmental reporting on renewable projects, not a case for building less. The same month wind and solar passed gas worldwide, the governments that signed the wildlife treaty formally recorded that the pace of the buildout and the safeguards have not been moving together.
We're moving our climate problem onto our biodiversity crisis.
Dustin Mulvaney, professor of environmental studies at San Jose State University. Source 4.