Annual Factbook on U.S. Sustainable Energy Shows Waste to Energy Growing : Biomass, Biogas and Waste to Energy Growth Outstripped by Other Technologies in U.S.
New biomass, biogas and waste to energy capacity together added 224 MW to U.S. renewable energy capacity in 2015, up 15% from the year before, according to a new study from Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) and the Business Council for Sustainable Energy (BCSE).
The report found that among other achievements, energy efficiency continued to rise, renewable power generation set new records, and natural gas consumption and production surged as CO2 emissions fell to levels not seen since the 1990s, while power prices remained flat.
These and other trends are chronicled in BNEF and BCSE’s fourth annual Sustainable Energy in America Factbook, a 150-slide almanac of key facts and figures on the evolution of the US energy sector.
According to the study clean, renewable sources of power now make up 20% of the U.S. plant stack, at 222GW. Hydroelectric facilities and pumped storage represent nearly half of this at 102GW – a figure that has stayed roughly constant since 2008.
Wind was found to be the second most prevalent renewable technology, standing at just under 75GW at the end of 2015, roughly triple its installed capacity at the end of 2008 (25GW). But solar has been the fastest growing, averaging a 60% clip annually since 2008 to bring its total capacity to 28GW.
Geothermal, biomass, biogas and waste to energy additions however were said to have grown at a slower pace, with 3.2GW added collectively since 2008.
Total capacity for biomass, biogas and waste to energy was found to have reached a total of 13.5GW in 2015, 15% above 2008. Geothermal installations have also risen 15% since 2008, to finish 2015 at 3.6GW.
“2015 clearly marked a turning point for American energy,” declared Lisa Jacobson, President of the Business Council for Sustainable Energy.
“As we consider the post-Paris world, we should acknowledge that we’ve entered a new era here in the United States,” she continued. “We now have both the tools and the capacity to achieve carbon reductions and cost savings along with economic growth. Now our job is to continue to build on the progress we’ve made.”
The full report can be downloaded HERE
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