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posted by on Friday November 25 2016, @11:46AM   Printer-friendly
from the shocking-growth dept.

The 2015 Renewable Energy Data Book shows that U.S. renewable electricity grew to 16.7 percent of total installed capacity and 13.8 percent of total electricity generation during the past year. Published annually by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) on behalf of the Energy Department's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, the data book illustrates U.S. and global energy statistics, including renewable electricity generation, renewable energy development, clean energy investments, and technology-specific data and trends.

[...] The 2015 Renewable Energy Data Book compiles recently available statistics for the 2015 calendar year. Key insights include:

  • Renewable electricity accounted for 64 percent of U.S. electricity capacity additions in 2015, compared to 52 percent in 2014.
  • Renewable electricity generation increased 2.4 percent in 2015. Solar electricity generation increased by 35.8 percent (11.7 terawatt-hours), and wind electricity generation increased by 5.1 percent (9.3 terawatt-hours), while generation from hydropower dropped by 3.2 percent (-8.2 terawatt-hours).
  • The combined share of wind and solar as a percentage of renewable generation continued to grow in the U.S. in 2015. Hydropower produced more than 44 percent of total renewable electricity generation, wind produced 34 percent, biomass produced 11 percent, solar (photovoltaic and concentrating solar power) produced 8 percent, and geothermal produced 3 percent.
  • Wind electricity installed capacity increased by more than 12 percent (8.1 gigawatts) in a year, accounting for more than 56 percent of U.S. renewable electricity capacity installed in 2015.
  • U.S. solar electricity installed capacity increased by 36 percent (5.6 gigawatts), accounting for nearly 40 percent of newly installed U.S. renewable electricity capacity in 2015.
  • In 2015, California continued to have the most installed renewable electricity capacity of any U.S. state (nearly 31 gigawatts), followed by Washington (nearly 25 gigawatts) and Texas (more than 19 gigawatts).California has a diverse mix of renewables led by solar PV, hydropower, and wind. In Washington, the main contributor to renewable capacity is hydropower, while wind is the largest contributor in Texas.
  • Oklahoma had the highest growth rate (30 percent) in installed renewable electricity capacity additions in 2015, followed by North Carolina (27 percent), Utah (27 percent), and Kansas (27 percent). Additions in wind capacity were the main contributor to growth in Oklahoma and Kansas, whereas additions in solar PV capacity accounted for most of the growth in North Carolina and Utah.
  • Installed renewable electricity capacity increased to more than 29 percent of total electricity capacity worldwide in 2015. Renewables accounted for more than 24 percent of all electricity generation worldwide.

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 25 2016, @01:22PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 25 2016, @01:22PM (#432838)

    wow. just wow. the numbers on renewables look fancy until you see that nearly 50% of working on-grid renewables is hydro. the solar generation on-grid worldwide is something around 2% with germany taking a big chunk of that "worldwide". not everyone has a river they can dam up or a lucky windy coast or mountain top or a hot water spring. so the only empowering source for everyone is at sad 2% which the quoted numbers manouver around beautifully...

  • (Score: 2) by Sulla on Friday November 25 2016, @04:38PM

    by Sulla (5173) on Friday November 25 2016, @04:38PM (#432890) Journal

    True, but how much has hydro been expanding and what was hydro's share of renewable 10 years ago? There is obvious progress being made, and for a system as resistant to change as what we have it is some pretty steady progress. That 2% was at one point 0%, so thats growth to me.

    Sure it might not be happening as quick as a lot of people want, but it is a step in the correct direction.

    --
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    • (Score: 3, Interesting) by JoeMerchant on Saturday November 26 2016, @04:49AM

      by JoeMerchant (3937) on Saturday November 26 2016, @04:49AM (#433115)

      Solar is supposed to be gaining efficiency especially in the price per installed kWh at some amazing rate (like doubling every 3 years for the last 6 or something)... I suppose I should shop again, I haven't seen those claims translate to actual installed costs on real proposed home installations. Are the tax breaks still in place, or are they offsetting the technical gains by pulling back the incentives?

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