US Energy Information Administration Indicates Growth in Renewable Energy

A recent data released by the US Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration (EIA) indicates the growing role of renewable energy sources in the national growth.

The data indicates that in the first six months of 2010 the share of renewable energy power usage increased by 4.7% when compared to the increase in the power consumption from the primary energy which witnessed an increase of 2.7%. The hydropower production witnessed a reverse growth due to vagaries of weather conditions. During the period hydropower which used to lead the power production sources by 33% came down to 8%.

The power produced from renewable energy sources such as solar power and wind energy meets approximately 8.4% of the basic energy intake in the U.S. The consumption from renewable energy sources witnessed more than 4.7% growth when compared to the same period in 2009. Similarly energy consumption is also witnessing a steady growth comparable with the unstable period and increased by 2.7% though it lags behind the growth of 3.9% witnessed during the same period in the year 2008.

Wind energy has increased its percentage of growth by 21.4% and currently constitutes nearly 11% of the total renewable energy. The percentage of biomass power production increased by 4.9% and it accounts for 50% of the total renewable energy. Within the biomass industry bio-ethanol grew by 23.4% and bio-diesel witnessed a growth of 18.9% from their negative growth in the year 2008.