During the first half of 2011, renewable energy sources (biomass & biofuels, geothermal, solar, water, wind) provided 4.687 quadrillion Btus of energy or 12.25 percent of U.S. energy production. By comparison, renewables accounted for 11.05 percent of domestic production during the first half of 2010 and 10.50 percent during the first half of 2009. (On the consumption side, which includes oil and other energy imports, renewable sources accounted for 9.45 percent of total U.S. energy use.)
More significantly, energy production from renewable energy sources in 2011 was 17.91 percent more than that from nuclear power, which provided 3.975 quadrillion Btus and has been declining in recent years. Energy from renewable sources is now equal to 79.83 percent of that from domestic crude oil production, with the gap closing rapidly.
Looking at all energy sectors (e.g., electricity, transportation, thermal), production of renewable energy, including hydropower, has increased by 15.02 percent compared to the first half of 2010, and by 22.79 percent when compared to the first half of 2009. Among the renewable energy sources, biomass and biofuels accounted for 46.04 percent in 2011 (54 percent from biomass and 46 percent from biofuels), followed by hydropower (37.00 percent), wind (13.40 percent), geothermal (2.33 percent), and solar (1.22 percent).
Looking at just the electricity sector, according to the latest issue of EIA’s "Electric Power Monthly," with data through June 30, 2011,for the first half of 2011, renewable energy sources (biomass, geothermal, solar, water, wind) accounted for 13.97 percent of net U.S. electrical generation — up 26.14 percent from the same period in 2010.
Hydropower accounted for 8.94 percent of U.S. electrical generation, followed by wind at 3.24 percent, biomass at 1.33 percent, geothermal at 0.41 percent, and solar at 0.04 percent. Thus, non-hydro renewables accounted for 5.02 percent of net U.S. electrical generation. Comparing the first six months of 2011 to the first six months of 2010, solar-generated electricity expanded by 43.6 percent, wind by 35.1 percent, hydropower by 30.3 percent, and geothermal by 4.9 percent; only biomass dropped — by 4.4 percent.
By comparison, nuclear power's contribution to net U.S. electrical generation totaled 19.12 percent representing a decline of 3.8 percent compared to the first half of 2010 and a drop of over five percent compared to the first half of 2009. Similarly, coal-generated electricity also dipped by 4.8 percent from its mid-year 2010 level while natural gas increased by 2.4 percent.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration released its most recent "Monthly Energy Review" on September 28, 2011. The relevant charts from which the data above are extrapolated are Tables 1.1, 1.2, and 10.1. EIA released its most recent "Electric Power Monthly" on September 15, 2011. The relevant charts are Tables 1.1, ES1.B, and 1.1.A.
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The author also states that nuclear power "has been declining in recent years." It is worth noting that the best 4 years for energy production from nuclear power in the US were (in descending order): 2007, 2010, 2008, 2009--i.e., the last 4 years. In each of these years production was 8.405 +/- 0.050 quads; it is incorrect to attribute trivial fluctuations of about 0.1 quads as some sort of trend, indeed nuclear generation in the last 4 years has been steadier than in any other 4-year period.
The story for renewable generation in the last year has been one of good weather and modest capacity growth; I would not call this a major milestone.
Steven