Non-hydroelectric sources may provide Americans more renewable power this year than the mighty dams that have dominated since Woody Guthrie sang about the Columbia River “turning our darkness to dawn.”
For eight months through April, electricity generated by non-hydroelectric sources, mostly wind and solar, exceeded hydroelectric, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported Thursday.
Although water rose into the lead again in May, the Energy Department agency projects that 2014 “will be the first year in which annual non-hydro renewable generation surpasses annual hydroelectric generation.”
Just a decade ago, hydroelectric power contributed three times as much to the nation’s electricity supply as non-hydro, which also includes biomass, geothermal, landfill gas, and municipal solid waste, the agency reported.
It projected that by 2040, non-hydro renewable power will double hydroelectric generation.
The agency attributed at least some of the growth to state renewable electric requirements and federal tax credits benefiting wind and solar, as well as to shrinking technology costs.
None of this may be much of a surprise in Texas, where wayward winds often trump cool water. The state has more wind capacity than any other, and at one point earlier this year wind turbines fulfilled nearly a third of the state’s power demand, according to Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which operates most of the state grid.
Texas wind generated 100 times as much power as water last year, ERCOT said.
In all this talk of renewables, perspective is important:
Another plentiful Texas product, fossil fuel, still generates 75 percent of the state’s power most of the time.
Nationwide, coal and natural gas generate two thirds of the power, and nuclear plants provide most of the rest, with renewables totaling just 13 percent, according to the Energy Department’s Annual Energy Outlook 2014.
Share this: