Renewable energy sources cumulatively provided more new electric generating capacity in 2014 than did natural gas, according to Ken Bossong, executive director of advocacy group SUN DAY Campaign.
Using the most recent data from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's Office of Energy Projects, renewable energy sources provided nearly half (49.81%) of new electrical generation brought into service during 2014, while natural gas accounted for 48.65%.
New wind facilities accounted for more than a quarter (26.52%) of added capacity (4.1 GW) in 2014, while solar power provided 20.40% (3.1 GW). Other renewables, such as biomass, hydropower and geotherma, accounted for 2.89%.
For the year, only a single coal facility (106 MW) came online; nuclear power expanded by 71 MW due to a plant upgrade; and only 15 small ‘units’ of oil, totaling 47 MW, were added.
New capacity from renewable energy sources in 2014 was 34 times that from coal, nuclear and oil combined – or 72 times that from coal, 108 times that from nuclear and 163 times that from oil, notes the SUN DAY Campaign.
