Sunday, April 08, 2012

Electricity Generation In The U.S.

SEARCH BLOG: ENERGY

The U.S. Energy Information Agency (EIA) has published the 2011 annual sources for electricity generation.  Not surprisingly, coal has taken a major hit while natural gas has taken up quite a portion of that void.

At the top of the graphic to the left is "Renewables" at 13%.  You know, solar and wind.  Not exactly.

The largest source of "renewable" energy is hydroelectric power from dams.  We are not talking about those dams that were created to make small lakes.  These are the Hoover Dam type. [image source]
Hydropower, the source for 8% of U.S. electricity generation in 2011, is a process in which flowing water is used to spin a turbine connected to a generator.
That leaves 5% for "other renewables."

  • This [geothermal] energy source generated less than 1% of the electricity in the Country in 2011.
  • Biomass accounts for about 1% of the electricity generated in the United States.
  • Solar-thermal electric generators concentrate solar energy to heat a fluid and produce steam to drive turbines. In 2011, less than 1% of the Nation's electricity was from solar power.
  • Electricity generation from wind has increased significantly in the United States since 1970, but wind power remains a small fraction of U.S. electricity generation, about 3% in 2011.

Those big-bucks for alternative energy sources are pretty much yielding no-growth in electricity generation. Regardless of what the current federal government administration is saying, significant contribution to this nation's energy by solar and wind "alternatives" is decades away... if ever.

Meanwhile, in China:
CHINA TO DROP SOLAR ENERGY TO FOCUS ON NUCLEAR POWER
Asia Pulse 
China will accelerate the use of new-energy sources such as nuclear energy and put an end to blind expansion in industries such as solar energy and wind power in 2012, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao says in a government report published on March 5. [source]
h/t Watts Up With That

2012 IS HERE

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