U.S. electrical generation from renewable energy sources (i.e., biomass, geothermal, hydropower, solar – inc. distributed solar, wind) rose by 14.63 percent during the first two-thirds of 2017 compared to the same period in 2016.
The data was presented at the latest issue of the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s ( EIA) “Electric Power Monthly” report (with data through August 31, 2017).
Simultaneously, fossil fuel generation fell by 6.67 percent and nuclear power declined by 2.08 percent.
Year-to-date, electrical generation by utility-scale solar (i.e., solar thermal and photovoltaic) plus small-scale solar photovoltaic rose by 41.4 percent and is now surpassing 2.0 percent of total electrical generation.
Most other renewable energy sources also showed positive growth: electrical output from hydropower grew 16.4 percent, wind by 10.7 percent, and geothermal by 3.5 percent. Only biomass declined by 1.0 percent.
Overall, renewables accounted for 18.17 percent of domestic electrical generation during the first eight months of this year with nuclear providing 19.55 percent, and fossil fuels 62.11 percent; the balance (0.17 percent) is from pumped hydro and other sources.
Source:Â SUN DAY CAMPAIGN