Washington D.C.: Renewable energy sources have exceeded nuclear power in the total amount of energy supplied to the United States, according to the Energy Information Administration’s latest “Monthly Energy Review,” released September 28.
During the first half of 2011, renewable energy sources (biomass & biofuels, geothermal, solar, water, and wind) provided 4.687 quadrillion BTUs of energy or 12.25 percent of U.S. energy production. That figure put renewables 17.91 percent ahead of the contribution from nuclear power, which provided 3.975 quadrillion BTUs – a figure that 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.
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.)
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 5 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.