According to the most recent issue of the U.S. Energy Information Administration's (EIA) Monthly Energy Review, nuclear power and renewable energy sources are now neck-in-neck, with nuclear power's share of domestic energy production dropping and renewable energy's growing rapidly, according to the SUN DAY Campaign.
The share of domestic U.S. energy production derived from renewable energy sources rose to 10.92% in 2010, up from 10.65% in 2009. By comparison, nuclear power's share of domestic energy production dropped from 11.48% in 2009 to 11.26% in 2010.
‘Against the backdrop of the ongoing nuclear disaster in Japan and the pressure for financial belt-tightening at home, the U.S. government's latest energy statistics once again confirm that limited federal dollars are far better invested in rapidly expanding renewable energy technologies and not in the black hole that is nuclear power,’ says Ken Bossong, executive director of the SUN DAY Campaign.
Looking at the full energy sector, overall domestic production of renewable energy, including hydropower, increased by 5.6% in 2010 compared to the previous year. However, non-hydro renewables increased by 11.6% from 2009 to 2010. Among renewable energy sources, biomass and biofuels combined accounted for 51.98% of the total, followed by hydropower (30.66%), wind (11.29%), geothermal (4.68%) and solar (1.38%).
Comparing 2010 production to that in 2009, wind energy increased by 28%, biomass/biofuels by 10%, and solar and geothermal by 4% each. Hydropower dropped by 6%.
Renewables, including hydropower, accounted for 10.32% of net electrical generation. During 2010, solar increased by 45.8%, wind grew by 28.1%, geothermal expanded by 4.4% and biomass increased by 3.7%.
Among the non-hydro renewable sources, wind accounted for 56.3%, biomass for 33.6%, geothermal for 9.3%, and solar for 0.8%. Nuclear power's share of net electrical generation dropped from 20.22% in 2009 to 19.59% in 2010.
SOURCE: SUN DAY Campaign
