Environment & Energy
Related: About this forumWind and Solar Produced More Energy Than Coal in the U.S. From January Through July This Year, a First.
By Paige Bennett, August 16, 2024
Original Article; https://www.ecowatch.com/wind-solar-energy-production-coal-us-2024.html
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In 2023, renewables outpaced coal energy generation for the first five months of the year. But by summer, energy demand increased, especially considering last summer was the Northern Hemispheres hottest summer in 2,000 years.
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I think it is an important milestone, said Ric OConnell, executive director of GridLab, as reported by Scientific American. I think youre seeing a solar surge and a coal decline and hence the lines are crossing.
Renewable energy, particularly from wind and solar sources, has been rapidly increasing. For 2024, the U.S. is slated to add a total of 36.4 gigawatts of solar utility-scale electric generating capacity, up from the 18.4 gigawatts added the previous year.
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NNadir
(34,548 posts)...natural gas being represented as a "victory" for the useless solar and wind scam. Solar and wind, dependent as they are on access to dangerous fossil fuels, are nothing more than lipstick on the fossil fuel pig. The decay of the planetary atmosphere has not been slowed - it is, in fact accelerating at an unprecedented pace - by all of these slick "bait and switch" abuses of numbers.
Think. Again.
(17,324 posts)...the acceleration of CO2 emissions is due to the acceleration of power consumption on a global scale, and not to the acceleration of non-CO2 emitting power generation in the U.S.
progree
(11,463 posts)Where things stand in the U.S. in 2023 - Energy production and energy consumption by fuel or other energy source. Solar and wind combined are only 2.3% of production and 2.6% of consumption.
From us-energy-facts. The bottom 4 bands are all fossil fuels. So, to see the combined total of fossil fuels, look at the top of the light pink band:.
It is interesting that the total fossil fuel production in BTUs (top of the light pink band) was essentially flat from 1970 to 2007, and then very sad that it went sharply up from there.
Wind and solar combined are 2.3% (less than half the size of the renewables green band).
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The above is U.S. production. This one below is U.S. consumption.
As far as I know, the difference (quite a difference in trend!) is exports
At least on the consumption side, fossil fuel consumption in BTUs (top of the reddish band) has marginally declined from a 2007 peak. Though fossil fuels are still a huge 83% of all consumed energy.
The wind and solar total is just 2.6% (it's less than half of the renewables green band).
Think. Again.
(17,324 posts)We still have a very long way to go!
But it is good to see our own U.S. overall consumption going down, and very bad to see how our contribution to global consumption through export is rising so drastically.
It reminds me of Norway (I believe) who consumes mostly clean energy in their own country yet the export of fossil fuels is a major financial staple of theirs.
progree
(11,463 posts)AFAIK. I read that some time ago.
I did a quick search just to make sure something hadn't changed, apparently not:
https://thedriven.io/2024/08/15/just-45-petrol-cars-sold-in-norway-in-july-as-evs-hit-92-per-cent-of-sales/
This July, full battery electric vehicles (BEVs) made up 91.9% of all newly registered vehicles, up from 81.7% in July 2023.
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Yup, that sounds like Norway.
Finishline42
(1,115 posts)Had a rider (I'm a Uber/Lyft driver) that had the background on that stat. Seems his wife was from Norway. They have a significant excise tax on ICE vehicles which I find interesting. As you pointed out, they have one of the largest sovereign wealth funds which of course has been largely funded by selling oil and gas...