Renewable energy use up, fossil fuels decline

Aug 22 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - Kristin McAllister Dayton Daily News, Ohio

Total renewable energy consumption increased 7 percent between 2005 and 2006, according to preliminary data released today by the Energy Information Administration.

However, total U.S. energy consumption declined 1 percent during that same time, mostly due to decreased consumption of fossil fuels, including the residential sector's decreased natural gas consumption and a decrease in coal and petroleum consumption by utility companies, according to the EIA data.

A breakdown of the data show that the electric power sector consumed the majority -- 56 percent -- of renewable energy, while the industrial sector consumed 28 percent and the transportation and commercial sectors, the remainder.

EIA data show that ethanol production increased about 25 percent between 2005 and 2006. Ethanol production levels in 2006 accounted for nearly 4 percent of U.S. finished motor gasoline production.

Corn use for the production of ethanol in the 2005/2006 crop year grew 3 percent from the 2004/2005 crop year -- from 11 percent to 14 percent, data show. The price of corn rose to nearly $4 per bushel in 2006, the highest price in two decades, when it averaged $2.40, data show.

The number of ethanol plants operating nationwide increased from 95 in January 2006 to 110 in January of this year, according to the Renewable Fuels Association.

The January data also indicated that 76 plants were under construction or expanding.

Total wind generation increased by 45 percent between 2006 and 2007, according to the American Wind Energy Association.

Texas, with 2,698 megawatts of capacity in 2006, overtook California as the nation's leader in wind capacity. Fifteen states reported net increases in wind capacity, according to the association.

Ohio has only a handful of wind turbines compared to other states, but is estimated to be able to produce about 66,000 megawatts of wind power. Nearly 90 percent of Ohio's power comes from coal-burning plants, which emit carbon dioxide, one of the greenhouse gases that cause global warming. The industry is on track to install in 2007 more than 3,000 megawatts of wind capacity nationwide, according to the association.