The Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) latest data disclosed that the US consumed more electricity from renewable energy than coal in 2022.
US electric power sector – 2021 vs. 2022
In 2022, coal-fired power generation fell from 23% to 20% year-on-year. Meanwhile, wind and solar led renewable energy generation with a combined growth from 12% to 14% YoY.
According to Statista via MSN, the US generated 913 terawatt-hours of electricity from renewable sources as opposed to 829 TWh from coal. Similar changes are apparently predicted to occur globally by 2027.
However, natural gas is still a dominant energy source, with a YoY growth of 39% from just 37%. Furthermore, other renewable energy sources such as hydropower, biomass, and geothermal remained unchanged from 2021 to 2022.
The share of electricity from other renewable sources—hydropower, biomass, and geothermal—did not change between 2021 and 2022.
How did it happen?
The report noted that the decreasing price of renewable energy sources and increasing incentives aid the significant advancement toward sustainability.
“Economic growth paired with increasing electrification in end-use sectors results in stable growth in US electric power demand through 2050 in all cases.
Declining capital costs for solar panels, wind turbines, and battery storage, as well as government subsidies such as those included in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), result in renewables becoming increasingly cost-effective compared with the alternatives when building new power capacity.”
EIA
Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act has really been effective in boosting renewable energy adoption in the US so far through its wind and solar power generation incentives.
Interestingly, it asserts that renewable energy sources are progressively satisfying electricity demand in the US. It further projects that renewable energy capacity will rise across all regions in the country this year.
In contrast, electricity generation from natural gas, coal, and nuclear dropped last year.
See Also:
- Global companies that made the largest renewable energy investments in 2022
- Amazon’s renewable energy portfolio grows beyond 20 GW, sufficient to power 5.3M homes
- Renewable energy contributed nearly one-quarter of US electrical generation during August 2022
- IEA: Renewable energy sources to keep global CO2 emissions from increasing over 1% this year
- These nations are the global leaders in the production and installation of renewable energy sources
By 2030, the EIA forecasts coal-fired generation to fall drastically from present levels (about 200 GW) by roughly 50%. Furthermore, the capacity of coal-fired power plants is anticipated to range from 23 GW to 103 GW by 2050.
