WASHINGTON DC, USA.
Wind energy is one of the major reasons for the 18% increase in consumption of renewable energy in the United States over the past four years, according to government data.
Total consumption in 2006 was 6.922 quadrillion Btu, compared with 5.893 quad in 2002, explains the latest ‘Renewable Energy Annual’ produced by the Department of Energy. The publication is the twelfth in a series of annual documents on renewables by DOE’s Energy Information Administration, and examines biomass (wood, waste, landfill gas, ethanol, biodiesel; geothermal; wind; solar (thermal and photovoltaic); and conventional hydropower. Hydroelectric pumped storage is excluded because they use non-renewable energy sources for their operation, and the EIA data also exclude satellite and military applications.
Of the 6.922 total, biomass accounts for 3.374 quad, up 25% over the period. Biofuels accounted for a 157% increase, while waste was only 1.2% higher. Consumption of geothermal rose 4.6% to 0.343, conventional hydropower rose 6.7% to 2.869, solar PV rose 12.5% to 0.072, while consumption of wind rose 151.4% to 0.264 quad.
Residential was the largest segment of the market, with 0.495 quad consumed in 2006, up 10.2% from the 0.449 quad consumed in 2002. Biomass was the largest component at 0.410 quad, followed by solar at 0.067 and geothermal at 0.018 quad.
The commercial sector consumed 0.117 quad in 2006, up 12.5% from 2002, led by biomass (0.102), waste (0.036), and geothermal (0.014 quad). Industrial consumption was 1.999 quad, with biomass accounting for almost all, and transportation was 0.483 quad, up 181% from 2002.
For the generation of electricity, 3.827 quad was consumed in the U.S. in 2006, led by conventional hydro (2.839), biomass (0.412), geothermal (0.306) and wind (0.264), while solar PV dropped 17% to 0.005 quad.
Renewable Energy Focus © Copyright 2008, Elsevier Ltd, All rights reserved.