As emerging economies and global living standards rise, is the world in for another fossil fuel boom? The data says not. Countries from Southeast Asia to Sub-Saharan Africa aren't investing in fossil fuels as the West did; they're investing in electricity powered by renewables.

When the US and Europe industrialized in the 19th and 20th centuries, they did so using fossil energy. From coal ovens, gas heating and combustion-engine cars to electricity produced in coal and gas power plants, entire societies relied on polluting fuels.

Yet while burning fossil fuels allowed industrialized countries to boom, it also caused the climate crisis that is linked to extreme weather events around the world today.

Renewable electricity is rapidly becoming the cheapest option

Many of the same countries that became economically powerful off the back of fossil fuels are now trying to transition to renewables, but centuries of legacy infrastructure hold them back.

Because a gas boiler won't run on wind power and a diesel…