According to the most recent issue of the "Monthly
Energy Review" by the U.S. Energy Information
Administration (EIA), with data through December 31,
2011, renewable energy sources expanded rapidly during
the last three years while outpacing the growth rates of
fossil fuels and nuclear power. Between January 1, 2009
and December 31, 2011, renewable energy sources (i.e.,
biofuels, biomass, geothermal, solar, water, wind) grew
by 27.12%. By comparison, during the same three-year
period, total domestic energy production increased by
just 6.72% with natural gas and crude oil production
growing by 13.66% and 14.27% respectively. Moreover,
during the same period, nuclear power declined by 1.99%
and coal dropped by 7.16%.
Looking at all energy sectors (e.g., electricity,
transportation, thermal), renewable energy sources
accounted for 11.74% of domestic energy production in
2011 – compared to 9.85% in 2008. In fact, renewable
energy sources provided 10.90% more energy in 2011 than
did nuclear power, although nuclear still provides a
larger share of the nation’s electricity. (On the
consumption side, which includes oil and other energy
imports, renewable sources accounted for 9.29% of total
U.S. energy use during 2011.) During the first three
years of the Obama Administration, geothermal grew by
15.63%, hydropower by 26.28%, solar by 28.09%, biofuels
by 46.58%, and wind by 113.92%. Only biomass dipped - by
1.21%. Hydropower accounted for 34.62% of domestic
energy production from renewable sources in 2011,
followed by biomass (26.75%), biofuels (22.20%), wind
(12.75%), geothermal (2.42%), and solar (1.24%).
Looking at just the electricity sector, according to
EIA’s "Electric Power Monthly," with data through
December 31, 2011, net electrical generation by
non-hydro renewable energy sources (i.e., biomass,
geothermal, solar, wind) grew by 54.6% during the last
three years. During the same period, conventional
hydropower expanded by 27.6%. Combined, electrical
output from renewable energy sources was 36.5% greater
for calendar year 2011 than it was for calendar year
2008. By comparison, between January 1, 2009 and
December 31, 2011, natural gas used in electrical
generation grew by 15.1% while nuclear and coal dropped
by 2.0% and 12.7% respectively. During 2011, hydro and
non-hydro renewables combined accounted for 12.67% of
net electrical generation compared to 9.25% in 2008.
Comparing the 12-months of 2011 against the same time
period in 2008, wind grew by 116.3%, solar by 110.0%,
hydropower by 27.6%, geothermal by 12.5%, and biomass by
3.1%. For all of 2011, non-hydro renewables accounted
for 4.75% of net electrical generation while
conventional hydropower accounted for 7.91%. However,
non-hydro renewables have been growing rapidly and for
the last quarter of 2011, they accounted for 5.5% of net
U.S. electrical generation. Among the non-hydro
renewables contributing to net electrical generation in
2011, wind accounted for 61.4%, followed by biomass
(29.1%), geothermal (8.6%), and solar (0.9%).
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