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A report from Environment America shows how solar energy and other decarbonized technologies are rapidly replacing fossil fuels.
Over the past decade, renewable energy has gone from an alternative source to an increasingly important element in the United States energy mix. Environment America showed in its annual Renewables on the Rise report that solar energy now generates 12 times more electricity than in 2013.
The United States produced enough solar energy to power 19 million homes in 2022. Cumulatively, more than 153 GW of solar capacity has been installed through the first half of 2023. And the growth has only just begun. More than 32 GW of installations are expected in 2023, representing 52% growth over 2022 totals.
According to Wood Mackenzie, solar energy accounted for 54% of all new power generation capacity added in the first quarter of 2023, and cumulative installations are expected to more than double between now and 2028, reaching 375 GW.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) predicts strong growth in solar energy in the coming years. It forecasts more than 83 GW of “high probability” solar power through August 2026. This figure dwarfs the 4 GW of natural gas additions planned through that date.
FERC states that the 83 GW of “high probability” of solar power increases may be quite conservative. There are more than 214 GW of solar in the three-year pipeline.
Other renewable energies are also increasing along with solar. Environment America reports that the United States will get nearly 17% of its electricity from solar, wind and geothermal sources in 2022. This is up from 5% in 2013. Fourteen states will produce more than 30% of total electricity from these three emissions-free sources in 2022, up from just two states in 2013.
During that period, wind energy has multiplied by 2.6, reaching enough generation to supply the equivalent of 41 million typical American homes.
Almost one million plug-in electric vehicles will be sold in 2022, almost 10 times more than in 2013. Electric vehicle chargers have also expanded in that time, reaching 151,000 new installations in 2022, an 18-fold increase.
Energy storage is also expanding to support intermittent cycles of renewable energy generation. The United States will have 8.9 GW of battery energy storage by the end of 2022, 60 times more than in 2013. Energy storage grew an astonishing 85% year-over-year from 2021 to 2022.
Along with the increase in renewable energy, improvements in energy efficiency are being promoted. According to Environment America, efficiency improvements installed in 2021 will save 300 TWh of energy over the life of the installed technologies. This efficiency savings alone is equivalent to the energy demand of 28 million homes per year.
“This incredible growth will be key to achieving our vision of a clean energy future, where we can all live greener and healthier in a world powered exclusively by clean, renewable energy,” Environment America said.
A report by the Rhodium Group and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) showed that total investment in clean energy, clean transportation, building electrification and carbon management reached $213 billion in the last year (July 1, 2022). as of June 30, 2023).
The 213 billion dollars invested represent a 37% jump compared to the investments in 2021/2022, which were 155 billion dollars. Clean investment continues to increase strongly every year. In 2018/2019, total investments reached $81 billion, and have risen every year since. |
