Renewables’ share of U.S. energy fell in 2018, EIA says
On Monday, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported that the share of U.S. energy coming from renewable sources like hydroelectric dams and wind farms fell off in the year 2018.
The drop came with a rapid rise in oil consumption which had been falling off gradually over the past 10 years as vehicle engines have gotten more efficient. Keeping with 10 years of long trend natural gas consumption also gained.
The report says that in spite of the rise in the year 2018, the consumption of U.S. petroleum remains lower than its high consumption level set in the year 2005. In the U.S. since surpassing coal in 1950, Petroleum has been the largest source of energy consumption.
The double gains were adequate to offset the continued construction of solar installations and wind turbines across much of the United States. Down slightly from 2017, the previous year 11.4% of the U.S. supply came from renewable.
The data matches with approximation that U.S. carbon emissions increase the previous year, breaking with a long trend of many years the declining emissions as coal power plants gradually close in errand of natural gas, solar energy, and wind.
As compared to 4 percent down in 2017, coal utilization continued to decline in 2018. The report also read that the consumption of coal in the U.S. peaked in the year 2005 and since then has declined by almost 42%. In 2018, U.S. coal consumption fell to 687 million short tons, the lowest level of coal consumption in the U.S. since the 1970s.
