According to the most recent issue of the href=”http://www.eia.gov/totalenergy/data/monthly/”
target=”new”>”Monthly Energy Review” by the href=”http://www.eia.gov/” target=”new”>U.S. Energy Information
Administration (EIA), renewable energy has passed a milestone as
domestic production is now greater than that of nuclear power and is
closing in on oil. During the first quarter of 2011, renewable
energy sources (biomass/biofuels, geothermal, solar, water, wind)
provided 2.245 quadrillion Btus of energy or 11.73% of U.S. energy
production. More significantly, energy production from renewable
energy sources in 2011 was 5.65% more than that from nuclear power,
which provided 2.125 quadrillion Btus and has remained largely
unchanged in recent years. Energy from renewable sources is now
77.15% of that from domestic crude oil production, with the gap
closing rapidly.



Looking at all energy sectors (e.g., electricity, transportation,
thermal), production of renewable energy, including hydropower, has
increased by 15.07% compared to the first quarter of 2010, and by
25.07% when compared to the first quarter of 2009. Among the
renewable energy sources, biomass/biofuels accounted for 48.06%,
hydropower for 35.41%, wind for 12.87%, geothermal for 2.45%, and
solar for 1.16%. Looking at just the electricity sector, according
to the latest issue of EIA’s “Electric Power Monthly,” for the first
quarter of 2011, renewable energy sources (biomass, geothermal,
solar, water, wind) accounted for 12.94% of net U.S. electrical
generation - up from 10.31% during the same period in 2010. Non-
hydro renewables accounted for 4.74% of net U.S. electrical
generation.



In terms of actual production, renewable electrical output increased
by 25.82% in the first three months of 2011 compared to the first
quarter of 2010. Solar-generated electricity increased by 104.8%,
wind-generated electricity rose by 40.3%, hydropower output expanded
by 28.7%, and geothermal electrical generation rose by 5.8%. Only
electricity from biomass sources dropped - by 4.8%. By comparison,
natural gas electrical output rose by 1.8% and nuclear-generated
electricity increased by only 0.4% while coal-generated electricity
dropped by 5.7%.