Renewables Account for 11.14% of U.S. Electricity Use

Ken Bossong of the Sun Day Campaign points out that renewables already make up a significant portion of our energy mix.

Ken Bossong, Sun Day Campaign
October 04, 2010 | 5 Comments

According to the most recent issue of the "Monthly Energy Review" by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), renewable energy sources (i.e., biofuels, biomass, geothermal, hydroelectric, solar, wind) provided 11.14% of domestic U.S. energy production during the first six months of 2010 – the latest time-frame for which data has been published.

This continues the steady growth trend for renewable energy. Renewables accounted for 10.71% of domestic energy production during the first six months of 2009 and 10.35% during the first six months of 2008.

Renewable energy sources provided 4.106 quadrillion Btus between January 1, 2010 and June 30, 2010 – an increase of 4.91% over the first half of 2009 and an increase of 8.37% over the first half of 2008. The largest single renewable energy source was biomass (including biofuels) which accounted for 50.66% of renewable energy production, followed by hydropower at 32.56%. Wind, geothermal, and solar sources provided 10.91%, 4.53%, and 1.32% of the total renewable energy output respectively.

Moreover, renewable energy’s contribution to the nation’s domestic energy production is now almost equal to that provided by nuclear power. Nuclear power accounted for 11.19% of domestic energy production during the first half of 2010 – compared to 11.14% from renewables. But while renewable sources continue to expand, nuclear output in 2010 dropped – declining by 1.3% from its comparable 2009 level.

And according to EIA’s latest "Electric Power Monthly," renewable energy sources provided 10.91% of net U.S. electrical generation for the same time period. Non-hydro renewable energy sources (i.e., biomass, geothermal, solar, wind) provided nearly 4.07% of domestic U.S. electrical generation during the first half of 2010. Hydropower provided an additional 6.84% of net U.S. electrical generation for the same time period.

Moreover, electrical generation from non-hydro renewable sources continues to grow rapidly. According to EIA data, electricity from biomass, geothermal, solar, and wind during the first six months of 2010 increased by 13.0% over the amount generated during the first half of 2009. Wind-generated electricity increased by 21.4%; electricity from solar thermal and photovoltaics rose by 16.4%; wood & other forms of biomass rose by 4.5%; and geothermal output increased by 0.8%.

5 Comments

Joseph Schiller
October 6, 2010

Dear PVinstaller:

Those "fish wacko-s" are some of the strongest supporters of renewable energy technologies. In the USA, almost half of all native fish species are threatened or endangered with extinction and large hydroelectric facilities are one of the primary reasons. Be carefull who you are dissing, the fossil fuel industry would love to pit the biggest threats to their long term dominance of energy markets against each other.

Joe Schiller

Dave Merrill
October 6, 2010

I think you are right Doug - nukes make up about 20% of our total electrical generation. If anything is declining, it's the hydro. It is considered a renewable energy source, yet with all of the fish wacko-s tearing out dams, these "RE" power plants are in decline. I guess "they" don't want to point out this problem in the RE realm....

chris eddy
October 6, 2010

This article is confusing because it mixes up electricity production and total energy production in several instances (including the headline).

Douglas Meyer
October 5, 2010

Hmmmmm, are you sure about that nuclear power percentage? About one year ago coal provided 49% of our electrical power production and nuclear about 20%. I don't remember half of the nuclear power plants shutting down.

If you're talking about all energy, including transportation fuels (gasoline, #1 & #2 diesel, cellusoic ethanol, biodiesel, etc.) then maybe the numbers work out as presented. Still, it seems a bit anti-nuke skewed. You might want to take another look at the details just to keep your reputation clean.

Roger Moore
October 5, 2010

Those sound like some beautiful numbers compared to where things were like 5 years ago. One minor point is that perhaps biomass should be flagged as carbon emitting, so policies could be weighted effectively towards my favorites: wind, geothermal, and solar.

I am curious as to whether any of the outlier renewable energies (e.g, wave energy),are also starting to show growth trends and may we expect something interesting in this area soon?