Renewable energy accounted for all new electric capacity added in the United States last month, according to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
In all, 1,231 megawatts of new generating capacity were installed in January. Of that total, wind provided 958 megawatts, solar chipped in 267 megawatts and biomass contributed 6 megawatts.
That’s a marked difference from January 2012, when coal led the way with 808 megawatts of the 1,693 megawatts added. Natural gas followed with 445 megawatts, and wind tossed in 276 megawatts to take the pole for renewables.
On Wednesday, President Obama sought to expand promotion of renewable energy by reviving the Commerce Department’s Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Advisory Committee.
Weird, I’m not noticing the sky falling here. Looks like we can add a bunch of renewable generation without even noticing it. In fact, this is actually nothing new.
“The U.S. already doubled its electric generating capacity from renewable sources between 2008 and 2012, according to a Bloomberg New Energy Finance and Business Council for Sustainable Energy report released last month.”
You didn’t notice a thing. It was completely painless.
