The boom in renewable energy being led by China, India, Europe, the United States and Japan is key to the mitigation of carbon emissions (see Nature 507, 300–302; 2014). Last year marked an important turning point for China's renewable-energy revolution in particular, with water, wind and solar sources accounting for more electricity-generating capacity (59%) than new fossil-fuel or nuclear facilities (41%; see go.nature.com/z6job5).

China generated 5,322 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity, of which 74% came from coal-fired power stations (a marked improvement on the 80% mentioned by some researchers; see D. Helm Nature 491, 663–665; 2012). The balance was contributed primarily by hydropower (17%), wind (2.6%), nuclear (2.1%) and solar sources (0.16%). Water, wind and solar energy therefore account for one-fifth of electricity generated in China — anticipating by two years the target that the country set for 2015.