11% of U.S. Energy Production from Renewable Resources in 2010

April 12th, 2011 by Zachary Shahan

The fossil fuel industry and the politicians and pseudo-scientists it buys are fond of saying that renewable energy can’t power the world. That claim will eventually be proven ridiculous. For now, though, many may be surprised to know that renewable resources already account nearly 11% of U.S. energy production.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) recently reported that U.S. energy production from renewable energy sources such as biomass/biofuels, hydro, geothermal, solar, water, and wind energy rose to 10.92% in 2010. Nuclear energy’s share dropped a bit to 11.26%.

Here’s more info on how energy production was split up within the renewable resource category:

biomass/biofuels — 51.98%
hydropower — 30.66%
wind — 11.29%
geothermal — 4.68%
solar — 1.38%

Looking at how energy production from these sources changed from 2009 to 2010, the EIA reported that:

wind energy increased by 28%
biomass/biofuels increased by 10%
solar and geothermal increased by 4% each
hydropower dropped by 6%

Only Looking at Electricity

Transportation and electricity are two different animals. Just focusing on the electricity front, here is some similar information.

Power sources other than hydro (i.e. wind, biomass, geothermal, and solar) increased 16.5% in 2010 when it came to electrical generation. In total, they accounted for 4.08% of net U.S. electrical generation. When including hydro, renewable resources accounted for 10.32%.

How was total electrical generation split amongst non-hydro renewable energy sources?

wind accounted for 56.3%
biomass for 33.6%
geothermal for 9.3%
solar for 0.8%.

How much did electrical generation change for each specific energy source?

solar increased by 45.8%
wind by 28.1%
geothermal by 4.4%
biomass by 3.7%

Nuclear provided 19.59% of electrical generation in 2010, down from 20.22% in 2009.

Of course, as I’ve already reported a number of times, expect wind and solar power to continue growing fast in the U.S.

Comments or related data to share?

h/t Renewable Energy World

About the Author

Zachary Shahan spends most of his time here on CleanTechnica as the director/chief editor. Otherwise, he's probably enthusiastically fulfilling his duties as the director/editor of Solar Love, EV Obsession, Planetsave, or Bikocity. Zach is recognized globally as a solar energy, electric car, and wind energy expert. If you would like him to speak at a related conference or event, connect with him via social media. You can connect with Zach on any popular social networking site you like. Links to all of his main social media profiles are on ZacharyShahan.com.

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Anumakonda Jagadeesh

Yes. US is harnessing Renewables in a big way just like China.

Dr.A.Jagadeesh Nellore(AP),India
MikeSR

There are many benefits to solar power which are not easily seen at the start.
1. Solar panels have a life span of 20+ years – that means they produce energy from the sun (no fuel cost) for 20 years or more. This means you can spread out the cost over many years. Coal plants require fuel.
2. Solar panels produce no pollution – this is good for our lungs.
3. Solar panels produce the most electricity in the afternoon, when many people are using air conditioning (e.g., central valley California), and when electricity from conventional plants is most expensive. While homeowners do not pay variable rates, businesses do, which means that they pay more for electricity used in the afternoon, when many of us are at work or when manufacturing plants run. We have special plants call “peakers” which run only in the afternoon – these are expensive to build, require fuel, and they pollute.
4. Solar panels do not always take up desert land – they can be put on top of parking lots, on roofs, on unusable land.

Please add to the list.

I say bravo to Governor Brown for the new California legislation!

And thank you to Zachary Shahan for this different perspective. I’m very encouraged that solar production of electricity generation is up 46%. Let’s keep that momentum!!
- http://twitter.com/zshahan3 Zachary Shahan
  
  MikeSR: thanks for those extra points — really useful and, as you say, often missed
Anonymous

I suspect 11% by 2020 is a low estimate, not a target.

Geothermal is taking off.

Wind is now cheaper than coal and most likely natural gas. That means private money is likely to pour into wind as investors see opportunities to take profits away from more expensive providers.

Solar prices are dropping like lead bloomers when the fleet hits town. With the economy recovering and homeowners realizing they can save a lot of money by installing PV, rooftop installations are going to boom.

Big business is now getting heavily involved with renewables. This means that we will see larger, more ambitious projects in the next couple of years. GE or Bechtel can front something on a much larger scale than can a company with only a few dozen, or few hundred, employees.

And as the economy recovers people will turn their attention to their immediate worries and focus on climate change. Look for a lot more active support for renewables.
- http://twitter.com/zshahan3 Zachary Shahan
  
  ton of excellent points — agreed, agreed, agreed. people have been saying solar and other renewable energy options were on the verge of booming (and they have) but i think we really are on the verge now. in the midst of cost crossovers. & all the other factors you point out drive the change faster