Pretty Picture…

Here’s a nice short piece from one of our readers:

By Bob Wallace

Recently someone was saying that renewables weren’t replacing fossil fuels. I decided how to see how one might clearly demonstrate that they are.

I took the electricity market share for fossil fuels, nuclear, and renewables from 2000 to 2013 in the US (EIA estimate) and calculated the percentage market share for each year.

Then I used the numbers from 2000 through 2004 (5 years) as a baseline, calculated annual change from the baseline, and plotted.

In 2009 the world began changing. At least in the US.

Fossil fuel average for 2000 through 2004 was 71.1%. By 2013 its share had dropped 3.7%. (Down to 67.5%.)

The renewable average was 8.8% and rose by 4.1%, covering both fossil fuel’s and nuclear’s losses. (Up to 12.9%.)

Pretty picture, eh?