First-Half U.S. Wind Power Production Up 20% Year-Over-Year

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U.S. energy production from wind power grew 20.14% in the first six months of this year compared to the same time frame in 2012, according to a report from the SUN DAY Campaign. Over the past decade, the nonprofit group says domestic energy production from wind has increased by a factor of nearly 16.

Citing U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) data, the SUN DAY Campaign notes renewable energy sources (i.e., biofuels, biomass, hydropower, geothermal, solar, and wind) provided 9.81% of U.S. energy consumption and 11.82% of domestic energy production for the first half of 2013.

According to the group, overall domestic renewable energy production grew 2% in the first half of 2013 year-over-year. Specifically, solar increased by 32.46%, wind by 20.14%, geothermal by 0.89% and biomass by 0.42%. Hydropower slipped by 2.59% and biofuels by 5.92%.


Among the renewable energy sources, hydropower's share during the first half of 2013 was 30.18%, biomass 25.26%, biofuels 20.18%, wind 18.80%, solar 3.19% and geothermal 2.39%.

The SUN DAY Campaign says production from all renewable energy sources, including conventional hydropower, is about 60% higher in 2013 than it was in 2003; production from non-hydro renewable energy sources has more than doubled.

By comparison, during the past 10 years, the group says domestic energy production from fossil fuels has increased by about 11% and from nuclear power by only 1%.

‘Renewable sources – particularly solar, wind and biofuels – have been the real growth industries in the energy market over the past decade,’ says Ken Bossong, executive director of the SUN DAY Campaign. ‘They now provide more energy than nuclear and more electricity than oil. If recent trends continue, they will eventually eclipse all uses of fossil fuels and nuclear power.’

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