by Professeur émerite Samuel Furfari, Université Libre de Bruxelles
Abstract
The 2025 edition of the Statistical Review of World Energy marks a significant methodological shift in how global primary energy is measured, particularly with regard to non-combustible renewables such as wind, solar, and hydropower. This change has profound consequences for how the energy transition is perceived, quantified, and narrated politically. This paper summarises the conceptual background, numerical effects and geopolitical implications of this revision, placing it within the broader context of international practice (IEA, Eurostat, UN and EIA). Ultimately, it demonstrates that the previous SRWE methodology significantly overstated the contribution of renewables to primary energy for many years, greatly benefiting their advocates rhetorically.











