An nameless reader quotes a report from Electrek: For the primary time ever, renewable energy era — that is wind, photo voltaic, hydro, biomass, and geothermal — exceeded coal-fired era within the US electrical energy sector in 2022, in response to the US Vitality Info Administration (EIA). Total, the US electrical energy sector produced 4,090 million megawatt-hours (MWh) of energy in 2022. Wind and photo voltaic’s mixed whole era elevated from 12% in 2021 to 14% in 2022. Hydropower stayed the identical final 12 months at 6%, and biomass and geothermal additionally remained unchanged, at lower than 1%. In order that’s a complete of 21%. Utility-scale photo voltaic capability within the US electrical energy sector — the EIA would not embody rooftop photo voltaic — elevated from 61 gigawatts (GW) in 2021 to 71 GW in 2022, in response to EIA knowledge. Wind capability grew from 133 GW in 2021 to 141 GW in 2022. Coal-fired era, however, dropped from 23% in 2021 to twenty% in 2022 as a result of numerous coal-fired energy crops retired, and the crops nonetheless on-line had been used much less.
Renewables surpassed nuclear era for the primary time in 2021, and that development continued final 12 months. Nuclear dropped from 20% in 2021 to 19% in 2022 as a result of Michigan’s Palisades nuclear energy plant was retired in Could 2022. Nevertheless, Palisades’ new proprietor, Holtec, needs to restart it, and this concept will not be proving notably common, with one environmental group saying that will threat a “Chernobyl-scale disaster.” The Biden administration pledged $6 billion on March 2 to assist lengthen the working lifetime of growing old nuclear energy crops in an effort to assist the US fight local weather change. Nevertheless, pure fuel remains to be the biggest supply of US electrical energy era, and it grew from 37% in 2021 to 39% in 2022. This month, the EIA forecast that each wind and photo voltaic will every develop by 1% in 2023. Pure fuel is forecast to stay unchanged, and coal is forecast to say no by 3% to 17% subsequent 12 months.
