From Sustainable Business comes the news that during the first quarter of 2013, renewable energy accounted for 82% of new electrical generating capacity in the US, and 100% in March.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) says that 1546 megawatts (MW) of renewables came online, along with 340 MW of natural gas. No new coal, oil or nuclear capacity has been added this year so far.
Six wind farms came online totaling 958 MW, 38 solar farms at 537 MM and 28 biomass plants added 46 MW. Four small hydro plants added 5.4 MW. The solar added is more than double that of the first quarter last year.
Including hydro, renewable energy now accounts for almost 16% of US electrical generating capacity: hydro - 8.53%; wind - 5.18%; biomass - 1.30%; solar - 0.44%; and geothermal - 0.32%. This is more than nuclear (9.15%) and oil (3.54%) combined.
my emphasis
photo: skytechsolar flr
Obama's stimulus package was a ginormous green clean energy bill which jump started this revolution which is now market driven. In 2012 renewables accounted for almost half of all new electrical generating capacity - 46.22%.. These figures understate gains in solar as significant levels of solar capacity exist in smaller, non-utility-scale applications.
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