How Much Of The Us Energy Is Renewable 2023?

Renewable energy has become increasingly important in the United States over the past decade. As concerns about climate change and energy security have grown, so too has the push to transition away from fossil fuels and towards clean, sustainable energy sources. The development of renewable energy brings numerous benefits, including reducing greenhouse gas emissions, diversifying the energy supply, and creating jobs. The United States has vast renewable energy resources to tap into, including wind, solar, hydropower, geothermal and bioenergy. While fossil fuels still dominate the energy mix, the share of renewables has been steadily rising. Understanding the current state of renewable energy in the U.S. provides key insights into the nation’s progress towards a cleaner energy future.

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Current State of Renewable Energy

In 2022, renewable energy accounted for about 12.2% of total U.S. energy consumption and about 22.5% of electricity generation, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) (1). This includes hydropower, biomass, biofuels, wind, solar, and geothermal energy.

The main renewable energy sources in 2022 were:

Hydropower: 7.6% of total U.S. energy production
Wind: 3.5%

Biomass: 2.2%
Solar: 1.3%
Geothermal: 0.4%

The renewable share of U.S. energy production has been gradually increasing over the last decade, up from 8.6% in 2011. The bulk of growth has come from expansion of wind and solar energy. However, fossil fuels like petroleum, natural gas, and coal still make up about 79% of U.S. energy production as of 2022 (2).

Growth of Renewables Over Time

The use of renewable energy in the United States has grown substantially over the past few decades. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), renewable energy accounted for about 11% of total U.S. energy consumption and about 17% of electricity generation in 2019. This represents significant growth from 2000, when renewable energy accounted for just 6% of energy consumption and 9% of electricity generation.

The two fastest growing renewable energy sources are wind and solar power. The EIA reports that U.S. wind energy generation has increased from about 6 billion kWh in 2000 to about 300 billion kWh in 2019. Solar power generation has grown even more dramatically, from only about 1 billion kWh in 2000 to over 105 billion kWh in 2019. Other renewables like hydropower and biofuels have also expanded over the past two decades.

Several factors have driven the growth of renewables in the U.S. Technological improvements and falling costs have made wind and solar more competitive with fossil fuels. State and federal policies like renewable portfolio standards and tax credits have also supported the buildout of renewable energy projects. As costs continue to decline and supportive policies remain in place, renewables are projected to continue their rapid growth in the coming decades.

Solar Energy

Solar power has seen tremendous growth in the United States over the last decade. As of January 2023, 73.5 gigawatts (GW) of utility-scale solar capacity was operating in the United States, about 6% of the U.S. total. Just ten years prior, in 2013, the U.S. had only 10.5 GW of solar capacity [1].

In 2016 alone, 14,626 MW of solar photovoltaic capacity was installed, a 95% increase over the 7,493 MW installed in 2015. 22 states added at least 100 MW of solar capacity that year [2]. The solar industry continues to grow at a rapid clip, installing 6.5 GW in Q3 2023, a 35% increase year-over-year according to the Solar Energy Industries Association [3].

Wind Energy

Wind energy capacity in the United States has seen tremendous growth over the past two decades. According to the American Clean Power Association, total installed wind capacity reached 132,738 MW by the end of 2022, compared to just 2,472 MW in 1999.[1] The growth has been driven by improved wind turbine technology, federal tax incentives, state-level renewable portfolio standards, and declining costs.[2]

Texas continues to lead the country in installed wind capacity with over 33,000 MW, followed by Iowa, Oklahoma, California, and Kansas. The Roscoe Wind Farm in Texas is one of the largest in the world with 627 wind turbines and a total capacity of 782 MW.[2] According to projections by the Department of Energy, wind capacity is expected to grow rapidly, reaching over 500,000 MW by 2050.[3]

Hydropower

Hydropower is an important renewable energy source in the United States. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, as of 2022, the total U.S. conventional hydroelectricity net summer capacity was about 79,980 megawatts (MW) (Where hydropower is generated – U.S. Energy Information Administration). This accounts for over 6% of total U.S. utility-scale electricity generating capacity. Hydropower plants across the country provide an important source of flexible, renewable electricity generation.

Geothermal

The United States has a total installed geothermal capacity of 3,676 MW as of 2019, making it the world leader with about 25% of the global online capacity according to the Wikipedia article on geothermal energy in the United States. The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) reports a total installed capacity of 4,539 MW across 26 states as of August 2022, providing 0.4% of total utility-scale electricity generation. California has the most geothermal electricity generation with 2,717 MW of capacity, followed by Nevada, Utah, Hawaii, and Idaho according to the EIA article on the use of geothermal energy. In addition to electricity generation, geothermal energy is used directly for heating applications like aquaculture, crop drying, district heating, and snow melting with an installed capacity of 485 MW thermal (MWth) as of 2020.

Biofuels

Biofuels, which are transportation fuels made from biomass feedstocks like corn, soybeans, and crop residues, are playing an increasingly important role in U.S. energy production. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, about 17.5 billion gallons of biofuels were produced in the United States in 2021 and about 16.8 billion gallons were consumed. The two most widely used biofuels are ethanol and biodiesel.

Ethanol production reached 15.4 billion gallons in 2022, with most coming from corn, according to the USDA. The majority of U.S. gasoline contains 10% ethanol (E10) to oxygenate the fuel and reduce air pollution. Some flex-fuel vehicles can use gasoline with up to 85% ethanol (E85).

Biodiesel production from soybean oil, recycled cooking oil, and animal fats totaled about 3.1 billion gallons in 2022, according to the USDA. Renewable diesel, which is chemically similar to petroleum diesel, is also increasingly being produced from the same feedstocks. Total production capacity for renewable diesel and other advanced biofuels reached 3 billion gallons per year in early 2023, surpassing biodiesel capacity according to the EIA.

Challenges

While renewable energy has seen tremendous growth, it faces challenges related to grid integration, storage, and transmission (IEA, 2023). Integrating large amounts of renewable energy into the existing grid infrastructure can be difficult. Renewable sources like wind and solar are intermittent and variable, producing energy at certain times of day or based on weather conditions. This can create challenges for grid operators used to the consistent output of fossil fuel power plants (Sustainable Review, 2023).

The variability of renewables also creates increased needs for energy storage like batteries and pumped hydro storage. Storing excess energy when output is high for use when output is low is an obstacle. Transmission also poses challenges as many prime renewable energy sites are located far from population centers. Massive investments are needed in transmission lines to deliver renewable energy from source to demand centers.

Future Outlook

The future outlook for renewable energy in the U.S. is promising. According to projections from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, renewable energy capacity is expected to increase dramatically through 2050.

By 2030, EIA projects that renewable energy will account for 42% of total electricity generation capacity, up from 22% in 2022. The bulk of this growth is expected to come from solar and wind. EIA forecasts utility-scale solar capacity will more than quadruple by 2030 as photovoltaic system costs continue to fall. Wind capacity is projected to nearly double as larger, more efficient turbines are installed.

Looking further ahead to 2050, EIA forecasts renewables will make up 58% of total generation capacity. Solar and wind again lead capacity additions, with solar potentially overtaking natural gas as the top source of electricity generation by 2050. Increased deployment of battery storage will also help enable the integration of higher levels of variable renewable generation.

While challenges remain, projections indicate the U.S. is on a path to continue diversifying its electricity mix with significantly higher contributions from renewable energy sources like solar, wind, and hydropower in the coming decades.