EIA's Year-End Electrical Generation Report for 2012 Reveals Solar
Growing by 138.9%
Wind Up 16.6%, Geothermal up 9.6, Biomass up 1.6%
while Nuclear, coal, and Oil All Decline
For
Immediate Release: Wednesday -
February 27, 2013
Contact:
Ken Bossong, 301-270-6477 x.11
Washington DC
– According to the latest issue of the U.S. Energy Information
Administration's (EIA) "Electric Power Monthly," with preliminary data
through to December 31, 2012, non-hydro renewable sources (i.e.,
biomass, geothermal, solar, wind) increased by 12.8% last year compared
to 2011 and provided 5.4% of net U.S. electrical generation. Solar
increased by 138.9% while wind grew 16.6%, geothermal by 9.6%, and
biomass (i.e., wood, wood-derived fuels, and other biomass) by 1.6%.
Moreover, since 2007, non-hydro renewables have more than doubled their
contribution to the nation's electrical supply.
At the same time
(2012 compared to 2011), total net U.S. electrical generation dropped by
1.1% with petroleum coke & liquids down by 24.1%, coal by 12.5%, and
nuclear by 2.6%. In fact, coal, which only a decade ago provided more
than half the nation's electricity, fell to 37.4% of net electrical
generation while nuclear, for the first time in many years, slipped
below 19.0%. Conventional hydropower also declined by 13.4% due to last
year's drought and lower water flows, but natural gas expanded by 21.4%
to provide 30.3% of net electrical generation.
Conventional
hydropower and non-hydro renewable sources combined accounted for 12.22%
of net U.S. electrical generation: hydropower - 6.82%, wind - 3.46%,
biomass - 1.42%, geothermal - 0.41%, and solar - 0.11%. However, as EIA
has noted in the past, these figures do not comprehensively reflect
distributed, non-grid connected generation and thereby understate the
full contribution of renewables to the nation's electrical supply. **
EIA's report
also reveals the top renewable-electricity generating states for 2012:
Top Five
Hydropower States: Washington, Oregon, California, New York, Idaho
Top Five
Non-Hydro Renewables States: Texas, California, Iowa, Minnesota,
Oklahoma
Top Five Wind
States: Texas, Iowa, California, Oklahoma, Illinois
Top Five Biomass
States: California, Florida, Maine, Georgia, Alabama
Top Five
Geothermal States: California, Nevada, Utah, Hawaii, Idaho
Top Five Solar
States: California, Arizona, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico
“Technical advances, falling
costs, and the desire to address climate change have combined to rapidly
expand the contribution of renewable energy to the nation's electrical
generation,” said Ken Bossong, Executive Director of the SUN DAY
Campaign. “With the right policy incentives, one can foresee these
cleaner energy sources providing the bulk of the nation's electrical
needs within a generation.”
# # # # # # # #
** "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
"Electric Power Monthly" with data through December 31, 2012 on February
25, 2013; see: http://www.eia.gov/electricity/monthly. The relevant
charts are Tables 1.1, 1.1.A, ES1.B, 1.13.B, 1.14.B, 1.17.B, 1.18.B,
1.19.B, and 1.20.B.
=======================
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.
SUN DAY
CAMPAIGN
6930
Carroll Avenue, Suite #340; Takoma Park, MD 20912
301-270-6477 x.11
sun-day-campaign@hotmail.com
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