3 Glimmers of Climate Hope in 2025: China's Emissions Turn, Grid Batteries, and the AI Effect

In a year of record emissions and climate disasters, 2025 has delivered a steady stream of grim news. Global greenhouse-gas emissions hit another all-time high, and this year is set to be one of the warmest on record. But beneath the worrying headlines, a few crucial bright spots have emerged, signaling that progress is still possible.

China Rewrites the Growth Playbook

One of the most encouraging signs this year came from China, the world's biggest polluter. According to an analysis in Carbon Brief, the nation has kept its carbon dioxide emissions flat for the last year and a half. What's remarkable is that this happened while its economy is on track to grow by about 5%. Unlike previous plateaus during economic downturns, China is now showing it can decouple economic growth from emissions.

The engine behind this shift is a massive build-out of renewables. The Carbon Brief analysis noted that China added an astounding 240 gigawatts of solar power and 61 gigawatts of wind in just the first nine months of the year. That's nearly as much solar power as the US has installed in its entire history.

Batteries to the Grid's Rescue

In the US, the deployment of grid storage batteries is happening at a blistering pace. Back in 2015, the industry set a goal of adding 35 gigawatts by 2035. It passed that goal a decade early this year, hitting 40 gigawatts a few months later. According to data from BloombergNEF, prices for grid storage battery packs fell 45% compared to last year, fueling the boom. In states like California and Texas, these batteries are already helping meet evening demand and reducing the need for natural-gas plants.

AI's Unexpected Clean Energy Push

The AI boom presents a paradox. It's driving up electricity demand—power supplied to US data centers jumped 22% this year. But this voracious appetite for energy is also spurring new investment in next-generation clean technologies. Tech giants like Google, Microsoft, and Meta have emissions goals and are searching for alternatives. In June, Meta signed a deal for geothermal power, and in October, Google signed an agreement to help reopen a shuttered nuclear power plant.