US renewable energy consumption outpaces coal for the 1st time in more than 130 years
In 2019, United States annual energy consumption from renewable sources exceeded coal consumption for the first time since before 1885, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA) Monthly Energy Review.
This result mainly reflects the continuous decrease in the amount of coal used for electricity generation during the last decade, as well as the growth of renewable energies, mainly wind and solar energy.
According to the EIA, compared to 2018, coal consumption in the United States decreased by almost 15% and total renewable energy consumption grew 1%.
Historically, wood was the main source of U.S. energy until the mid-1800s and was the only commercial-scale renewable energy source in the United States until the first hydroelectric plants began producing electricity in the 1880s.
Coal was used in the early 1800s as fuel for ships and steam trains and to make steel, and was later used to generate electricity in the 1880s. The first EIA energy estimates began in 1635.
Renewable energy
EIA converts energy sources into common units of heat, called British thermal units (Btu), to compare different types of energy that are reported in different physical units (barrels, cubic feet, tons, kilowatt hours, etc.).
The EIA uses a fossil fuel equivalency to calculate the electricity consumption of non-fuel renewable energies, such as wind, hydro, solar and geothermal.
In 2019, U.S. coal consumption declined for the sixth year in a row, to 11.3 trillion Btu, the lowest level since 1964.
The EIA indicated that coal-fired electricity generation has declined significantly over the past decade and, in 2019, fell to its lowest level in 42 years.
At the same time, natural gas consumption in the electric power sector has increased significantly in recent years and has displaced much of the electricity generation from the retired coal plants.
Total renewable energy consumption in the United States grew for the fourth year in a row to a record 11.5 trillion Btu in 2019.
Since 2015, the growth of renewable energy in the United States can be attributed almost entirely to the use of wind and solar energy in the power sector.
In 2019, wind power generation surpassed hydro power for the first time and is now the most widely used renewable energy source for power generation in the United States annually.
