LATEST
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT DATA
YIELD
"ENERGY SCORECARD"
FOR
OBAMA ADMINISTRATION'S FIRST TERM
COAL,
NUCLEAR, OIL IMPORTS, ENERGY USE
AND CO2
EMISSIONS ALL DROP
RENEWABLES & NATURAL GAS EXPAND;
WIND AND
SOLAR MORE THAN DOUBLE
For
Immediate Release: Thursday,
March 28, 2013
Contact:
Ken Bossong, 301-270-6477 x.11
Washington DC
– According to the most recent issue of the "Monthly Energy Review" by
the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), with data through
December 31, 2012, renewable
energy sources and natural gas expanded rapidly during the Obama
Administration's first term while coal, nuclear power, oil imports and
use, energy consumption, and CO2 emissions all declined significantly.
Comparing data for 2008 (last year of the
Bush Administration) to data for 2012 (last year of the Obama
Administration's first term), domestic energy production from renewable
energy sources (i.e., biofuels, biomass, geothermal, hydropower, solar,
and wind) grew by 23.48% with wind and solar more than doubling their
output.
By comparison, total
domestic energy production from all sources increased by just 8.15% with
domestic natural gas and crude oil production growing by 18.71% and
29.47% respectively. Moreover, during the same period, nuclear power
output declined by 4.47% and domestic coal production dropped by 13.28%.
Total energy use
declined by 4.16%, petroleum
consumption decreased by 6.95%, CO2 emissions dropped by 9.38%, and
imports of crude oil and petroleum products fell by 17.32%.
Looking at all energy sectors (e.g.,
electricity, transportation, thermal), renewable energy sources
accounted for 11.23% of domestic energy production in 2012 – compared to
9.84% in 2008. In fact, renewable energy sources provided 10.47% more
energy in 2012 than did nuclear power, although nuclear still provides a
larger share of the nation’s electricity (18.97% vs. 12.22%). (On the
consumption side, which includes oil and other energy imports, renewable
sources accounted for 9.30% of total U.S. energy use during 2012,
compared to 7.24% in 2008.)
During the first four years
of the Obama Administration, hydropower production grew by 7.01%,
geothermal by 18.23%, biofuels by 40.66%, solar by 138.20%, and wind by
149.27%. Only biomass dipped - by 0.89%. Hydropower accounted for 30.21%
of domestic energy production from renewable sources in 2012, followed
by biomass (27.61%), biofuels (21.94%), wind (15.30%), geothermal
(2.55%), and solar (2.39%). These figures may not fully reflect the
total contribution from renewable energy sources inasmuch as EIA data
does not totally account for distributed, non-grid connected
applications.**
“The
numbers speak for themselves - notwithstanding politically-inspired
criticism, the energy policies pioneered by the Obama Administration
have generated dramatic growth rates for renewable energy during the
past four years, while significantly reducing oil imports and greenhouse
gas emissions,” said Ken Bossong, Executive Director of the SUN DAY
Campaign. “The investments in sustainable energy made by the federal
government as well as state officials and private funders have paid off
handsomely underscoring the short-sightedness of seemingly endless
proposals to slash or discontinue such support.”
# # # # # # # #
** "These
additions understate actual solar capacity gains. Unlike other energy
sources, significant levels of solar capacity exist in smaller,
non-utility-scale applications - e.g., rooftop solar photovoltaics."
(EIA, August 20, 2012 -
http://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.cfm?id=7610)
The U.S. Energy Information Administration
released its most recent "Monthly Energy Review" on March 27, 2013.
It can be found at http://www.eia.gov/totalenergy/data/monthly. The
relevant charts from which the data above are extrapolated are Tables
1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4a, 10.1 and 12.1.
=======================
The SUN DAY
Campaign is a non-profit research and educational organization founded
in 1993 to promote sustainable energy technologies as cost-effective
alternatives to nuclear power and fossil fuels.
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