Renewable energy (including hydro) contributed 11.2% of US electricity in January 2011, up 15.6% from January 2010 when it supplied 9.8%, according to EIA's "Electric Power Monthly."
Solar generation skyrocketed 343% in January 2011 compared to January 2010, while wind rose 27.63% and geothermal rose 4.6%. Hydro was up 16.2% and biomass, the only sector to decline, dropped 2.8%.
For fossil fuels, natural gas-generated electricity rose just 0.7%, nuclear output rose 0.2%, and coal-generated electricity dropped 1.3%.
Renewables Outpace Nuclear Worldwide
For the first time, in 2010, the amount of renewable energy capacity around the world exceeded that of nuclear, says Worldwatch.
While there's 375 GW of nuclear installed worldwide (prior to the Japanese meltdown), there's 381 GW of renewables: 193 GW of wind, 65 GW of biomass and waste-to-energy plants, and 43 GW of solar.
And that's with much greater subsidies for nuclear. Over the last 15 years, nuclear and wind have had a similar output (2.6 billion kWh for nuclear versus 1.9 billion kWh for wind),
but nuclear subsidies outweighed those for wind by a factor of over 40 ($39.4 billion versus $900 million).
The report, "World Nuclear Industry Status Report 2010-2011," will soon be released by Worldwatch Institute.
Europe Cuts Greenhouse Gases
The EU reported that the recession led to such a large drop in industrial production and across the economy that greenhouse gas emissions declined by a record 7.2%.
Consumption of fossil fuels, mainly coal, was the cause of the drop - the biggest annual decline since 1990, when they began tracking emissions.
Emissions in the EU have been on the decline for five consecutive years and are now 17.6% below 1990 levels. They are well on track to meet the goal of 20% below 1990 levels by 2020.
For the US, the EPA recorded a 6.1% decline in U.S. emissions.
