U.S. Renwable Energy Production Increases in 2008

February 2, 2009

The Sun Day Campaign - Contact: Ken Bossong, 301-270-6477 x.23

Washington DC -- According to the latest issue of the "Monthly Energy Review" by the U.S. Energy Information Administration, production of renewable energy between January and October 2008 was eight percent higher compared to the same time period in 2007. Moreover, renewable energy accounted for 10.04% of domestic energy production during the first ten months of 2008. By comparison, renewable energy accounted for 9.58% of domestic energy production in 2007.

Factoring in imported oil, gas, and fuels, renewable energy accounted for 7.47% of total energy consumption for the first ten months of 2008 compared to 6.80% in 2007.

Renewable Energy Production Jan-Oct'08 (Jan-Oct'07) Change
[Trillion Btu]
Biofuels: 1,149 (803) +43%
Biomass (inc. biofuels): 3,198 (2,960) +8%
Total Renewables: 6,167 (5,708) +8%

Renewable Energy Jan-Oct'08 (Jan-Oct'07) Change
Consumption [Trillion Btu]
Hydropower: 2,243 (2,124) +5.6%
Geothermal: 291 (294) -1%
Solar: 70 (68) +2.9%
Wind: 365 (264) +38.3%
Wood: 1,706 (1,799) -5.2%
Waste: 344 (357) -3.7%
Biofuels: 1,173 (829) +41.5%
Total Biomass: 3,223 (2,985) +8%
Total Renewables: 6,191 (5,734) +8%

Total domestic energy production for the first ten months of 2008 was 61.440 quadrillion Btus while the 10-month total domestic production for 2007 was 59.600 quads (i.e., 3% increase).

Total energy consumption for the first 10-months of 2008 was 82.796 quads while the 10-month total energy consumption for 2007 was 84.283 quads (i.e., a decrease of 1.8%).

The U.S. Energy Information Administration released the "Monthly Energy Review" on January 26, 2009. It can be found at:
http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/mer/overview.html
and the relevant table can be found at:
http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/mer/pdf/pages/sec10_3.pdf

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The SUN DAY Campaign is a non-profit research and educational organization founded in 1993 to promote sustainable energy technologies as cost-effective alternatives to nuclear power and fossil fuels.