EIA: 11.6% of U.S. Energy Production Comes From Renewables

09-Sep-2009

Solar, wind, hydroelectric, geothermal, biomass, biofuels, and other renewable energy sources provided 11.6% of domestic U.S. energy production during May 2009, according to the latest information from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). In addition, renewable sources accounted for more U.S. energy production than nuclear power for the second month in a row—0.707 quadrillion Btu’s (quads) for renewables versus 0.684 quads from nuclear, EIA disclosed. For the first five months of 2009, renewable energy production (3.219 quads) was 5.5% higher compared with the same period of 2008 (3.051 quads), and 9.7% higher than the same period in 2007 (2.935 quads), EIA reported in its latest issue of the Monthly Energy Review. Comparing the first five months of 2009 to the first five months of 2008, wind increased by 29.9%, hydropower increased by 8.7%, geothermal increased by 0.7%, and biomass and biofuels combined increased by 0.5%. Solar power delivery remained largely unchanged.