SUN DAY CAMPAIGN
(a campaign for a sustainable energy future)
6930 Carroll Avenue, Suite #340; Takoma Park, MD 20912
Twitter: Follow @SunDayCampaign
News Advisory
WIND CROSSES 5% THRESHOLD AND SOLAR DOUBLES AS
RENEWABLES PROVIDE 14% OF U.S. ELECTRICAL GENERATION
DURING FIRST THIRD OF 2014
HOWEVER, AS FOSSIL FUEL CONSUMPTION REBOUNDS,
CO2 LEVELS ARE 5.48% HIGHER THAN 2013
AND 10.52% HIGHER THAN 2012
For Release: Thursday – June 26, 2014
Contact: Ken Bossong, 301-270-6477 x.11
Washington DC – Two new back-to-back reports from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) provide a snapshot of U.S. energy trends for the first months of 2014.
EIA’s “Electric Power Monthly” was released on June 23 and provides data through April 30 for the nation’s electrical sector. EIA’s “Monthly Energy Review” was released June 25 and provides data for the first quarter of 2014 for all energy sectors (e.g., electricity, transportation, thermal).
From EIA’s “Electric Power Monthly” report, five developments of particular note include:
First, renewable energy sources (i.e., biomass, geothermal, hydropower, solar, wind) provided over 14% of the nation’s electricity for the first four months of 2014 (i.e., 14.05%) – a level that the EIA has been saying might not be reached until 2040.
Second, wind has now passed the 5 percent threshold (i.e., it accounted for 5.15% of the electricity generated in the U.S. during the first third of 2014).
Third, electrical generation from solar for the first four months of 2014 is more than double that for the same period in 2013 (increasingly 108.9%).
Fourth, non-hydro renewables (i.e., biomass, geothermal, solar, wind) have produced more electricity in the U.S. than conventional hydropower for each of the first four months of 2014 as well as for the cumulative four-month period (52.7% vs. 47.3%).
Fifth, electrical generation from nuclear power rose 0.7% in the first four months of 2014 compared to the first third of 2013; however, as a share of total U.S. electrical generation, nuclear declined from 19.71% in the first third of 2013 to 19.15% in first third of 2014.
From EIA’s “Monthly Energy Review,” five additional findings include:
First, domestic energy production from renewable sources (i.e., biofuels, biomass, geothermal, hydropower, solar, wind) grew by 4.36% during the first quarter of 2014 compared to the same period in 2013; renewable sources accounted for 11.41% of total U.S. energy production.
Second, consumption of renewable energy increased by 3.52% over 2013 levels and accounted for 8.83% of U.S. energy used in all sectors (electricity, transportation, etc.) during the first three months of 2014.
Third, comparing the first quarter of 2014 to the same period in 2013, production of fuel ethanol (measured as Mbbl) – used primarily in the transportation sector – grew by 11.74% and biodiesel by 10.85%.
Fourth, consumption of fossil fuels increased by 5.17% in the first quarter of 2014 compared to the same period in 2013- coal by 8.91%, natural gas by 7.43%, and petroleum by 1.07%.
Fifth, as a consequence, carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from the consumption of fossil fuels rose by 5.48% during the first quarter of 2014 compared to the same period in 2013 and by 10.52% when compared to the first quarter of 2012.
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The U.S. Energy Information Administration released its most recent “Electric Power Monthly” on June 23, 2014 with data through April 30, 2014; see: http://www.eia.gov/
The U.S. Energy Information Administration released its most recent “Monthly Energy Review” on June 25, 2014 with data through March 31, 2014; see: http://www.eia.gov/
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The SUN DAY Campaign is a non-profit research and educational organization founded in 1992 to aggressively promote sustainable energy technologies as cost-effective alternatives to nuclear power and fossil fuels.
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