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The World, Re-Energized

The shift to clean energy is unfolding faster than most realize — and despite worries to the contrary. Leaders must reckon with the implications of this accelerating transition to ensure business success and policy progress.

While recent headlines echo concerns that we are running out of time to avert the worst consequences of climate change, a more nuanced and more promising reality is unfolding.

Worldwide growth in renewable energy means we've already seen the peak of global demand for fossil fuels to generate electricity. Demand for gas- and diesel-powered vehicles — from two-wheelers to cars and trucks — is tracing a similar arc, as electric vehicles (EVs) win a rising share of sales. And, following in the footsteps of wind and solar, sales of battery storage are soaring as prices fall.

This transformation is without precedent — and it is gathering pace and scale. In a growing majority of the world's economy, it's now cheaper to install new wind or solar than to continue running existing coal-, diesel-, or gas-fired generators.

Across other energy-intensive industries, the exponential growth of more abundant, lower-cost, and cleaner electricity has set in motion a climate-benefitting domino effect. With growing clarity about clean energy's edge, the transportation and industry sectors are rewriting long-term business plans and mobilizing trillions in investment to build out permanent shifts away from fossil fuels.

Against a backdrop of rising climate urgency, these fronts of progress highlight a sense of possibility, progress, and hope. The challenge remains enormous, to be sure, but as the impacts of exponential progress unfold across the global economy, the promise of a world, re-energized is becoming reality.

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Understanding the Global Energy Transition

The global energy transition is unfolding with unprecedented speed, spurred by the exponential growth of new solutions. The combination of the exponential growth of low-cost, clean energy coupled with continued gains in energy efficiency is creating a virtuous cycle, erasing growth for fossil fuels while setting the stage for a dramatic collapse in demand. Our analyses illuminate the big picture of this transition, from precedent-making historical antecedents to the latest data and modeling on the growth of renewables and the decline of fossil fuels.

The Cleantech Revolution

The energy system is being reshaped by the exponential forces of renewables, electrification, and efficiency.

Peaking: The Series

In country after country and sector after sector, fossil fuel demand has peaked and now faces a future of decline.
The Energy Transition Is a Technological Revolution — with a Deadline

We are in the midst of a technological revolution, driven by the rapid cost declines and proliferation of renewable energy. The cost of solar PV energy has fallen by 80 percent in the past decade,…
X-Change: Electricity

Renewable energy – solar and wind – is on an exponential path which will lead to disruption of the global electricity sector this decade.
X-Change: Cars

Rapid growth of electric vehicles shows the end of the ICE age has begun.
X-Change: Batteries

The remarkable, exponential growth of battery sales is driven by a domino effect of battery technology adoption that cascades from country to country and sector to sector.
X-Change: The Race to the Top

The cleantech competition between China, Europe, and the United States
Resources for Corporate Action

Climate change and the energy transition are transforming the global business landscape. The private sector plays an outsized role, and corporate leaders who act now will gain the advantages of first movers.

But some companies continue to underestimate the speed and scale with which the shift to a low-emissions economy is likely to unfold. Failing to recognize the substantial business opportunity associated with the transition carries significant strategic risk.

As leaders shift from ambition to action, accelerating systems transformation will be crucial. RMI's analysis can help companies design a corporate climate strategy to drive change and create new value in the climate-aligned economy.

Emergence Strategy: A Systems Approach to Corporate Climate Action

How leading companies can move beyond incremental emission-reduction steps to seize business opportunities that entail transformative changes.
Corporate Commitments and Emissions Explorer

Use this tool to see how nearly 7,000 companies across 14 sectors can help drive climate transitions.

Systems Change for a Sustainable Future

In partnership with Deloitte, RMI explores how climate change is already transforming global business, and how leaders can adapt to a climate-aligned economy.

A Systems Focus for Corporate Sustainability Transformation

Deloitte and RMI help leaders develop new corporate emergence strategies that adapt to far-reaching system transformations and capture their opportunities.

Emergence Strategy in Action: Danone and the Dairy Methane Action Alliance

How public-private partnerships can unlock near-term climate, health, and agricultural benefits from avoided methane emissions.
Emergence Strategy in Action: Stora Enso’s Transformation into a Renewable Materials Company

How a top paper manufacturer took advantage of global trends to push the frontier in the renewable materials field.
Emergence strategy in Action: Lodha drives sustainable real estate development in India

Case study: How one of India’s biggest real estate developers became a systems leader in green building.
Emergence Strategy in Action: Gogoro Seizes Opportunity in the Transition to Sustainable Mobility

This is the first in a series exploring emergence strategy. For related case studies, click here.  How did Gogoro go from stealth startup to being the largest worldwide provider of light EV battery swapping —…
Stories of the Energy Transition

As climate change accelerates, even greater challenges remain. With our staff, partners, and communities, RMI is racing ahead to scale solutions. Here, we document some of our most hope-inspiring stories and successes from around the world.

Electrifying Communities, Empowering Livelihoods

How RMI is touching lives using clean energy through solar minigrids in Nigeria.
Stories of Hope, Applied

RMI documents some of our most hope-inspiring stories and successes from around the world.

Global Energy Transformation Guide

The Global Energy Transformation Guide: Electricity shows how we can achieve an energy transformation by elevating innovations from the energy transition. The reports and spotlights identify key trends, explore emerging challenges and opportunities, and share success stories from electricity system leaders across the globe.
How Federal Clean Energy Dollars Are Supporting First Responders

Boosted by clean energy tax credits in the Inflation Reduction Act, a net-zero energy public safety center in McFarland, Wisconsin, is benefitting firefighters, police officers, and the wider community.
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The research featured on this page is supported by the Delta Environmental and Educational Foundation, individual donors, and project partners.

Our network of partners includes leading research organizations and sectoral change coalitions at the forefront of developing and applying advanced tools for understanding and driving systems change.

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