In 2024, renewable sources accounted for ***** percent of the electricity generated in the United States. The share of renewables in the country's electricity generation has been continually increasing for over a decade. In addition, renewables accounted for over ** percent of the power capacity additions in the U.S. in the same year. Renewable energy sources in the U.S. Wind power was the leading renewable energy source in the country, accounting for over ** percent of the total electricity supply in the U.S., followed by hydropower. Renewable energy generation in the U.S. amounted to *** terawatt-hours in 2023. The growth of renewables in the U.S. According to a recent forecast, the renewable electricity capacity in the U.S. is projected to triple between 2022 and 2040 in a reference scenario, although this figure could be higher in the case of low renewable cost. In 2023, onshore wind and solar photovoltaic energy had some of the lowest levelized cost of electricity in the country.

The leading countries for installed renewable energy in 2024 were China, the United States, and Brazil. China was the leader in renewable energy installations, with a capacity of around 1,827 gigawatts. The U.S., in second place, had a capacity of around 428 gigawatts. Renewable energy is an important step in addressing climate change and mitigating the consequences of this phenomenon. Renewable energy capacity and productionRenewable power capacity is defined as the maximum generating capacity of installations that use renewable sources to generate electricity. The share of renewable energy in the world’s power production has increased in recent years, surpassing 30 percent in 2023. Renewable energy consumption varies from country to country. The leading countries for renewable energy consumption are China, the United States, and Canada.Renewable energy sourcesThere are various sources of renewable energy used globally, including bioenergy, solar energy, hydropower, and wind energy, to name a few. Globally, China and Brazil are the top two countries in terms of generating the most energy through hydropower. Regarding solar power, China, the United States, and Japan boast the highest installed capacities worldwide.

The cumulative capacity of renewable energy in the United States, excluding hydro, has continuously rose in the period under consideration, peaking at an estimated 347 gigawatts in 2023. In 2014, the power-generating capacity of non-hydropower renewables in the U.S. was larger than hydropower capacity for the first time.

Renewable energy generation in the United States has seen remarkable growth, with wind power leading the charge. In 2024, wind is generated ***** terawatt hours of electricity, solidifying its position as the top renewable source since 2019. This surge in wind energy production reflects a broader trend of increasing renewable energy adoption across the country. Electricity landscape in the United States The growth in renewable electricity generation is supported by substantial investments and increasing production capacity. However, fossil fuels still dominated U.S. electricity generation in 2024. *********** remains the largest electricity source with a ** percent share in that year, while renewables accounted for ** percent of total electricity generation. Energy transition outlook in the United States Over the last few years, the country demonstrated its commitment to diversify its energy portfolio and reduce reliance on traditional fossil fuels, motivated by environmental concerns and economic factors. According to a recent forecast, renewable sources could provide approximately ** percent of U.S. electricity output by 2050, led by solar energy. The recent political turnover is expected to impact the country’s energy sector, as the new Trump administration is again shifting U.S. energy policy towards fossil fuels.

Renewable energy production in the United States reached an all-time high of 8,788 trillion British thermal units in 2024. Consumption followed closely behind at 8,581 trillion British thermal units. U.S. investment in clean energy The United States' investment in renewables has greatly increased in the past two decades. Clean energy in the United States currently comes primarily from wind, solar, and hydropower, with significant contributions from biofuel and biomass - also known as biopower. Investments are motivated not only by environmental concerns, but also by unstable markets for traditional fossil fuels. Crisis in oil markets When oil prices peaked during the 2008 financial crisis, investors turned toward developing renewables as well as increasing domestic oil production as a more economically viable source. During the 2010s oil glut, oversupply of shale oil followed the expansion of extraction methods such as hydraulic fracturing, used to access the country’s large reserves of sandstone deep underground.

Solar energy accounted for some 5.6 percent of electricity generation in the United States in 2023, up from a 4.8 percent share a year earlier. California was the state with the largest percentage of its electricity generation covered by solar, with approximately 27.3 percent.

Consumption of renewable energy in the United States has experienced a continual annual increase since 1998. In 2023, renewables consumption in the North American country peaked at nearly 11 exajoules. This represented a growth of roughly two percent when compared to the figure reported the previous year.

Fossil fuel consumption in the United States amounted to 77.41 quadrillion British thermal units in 2024, a slight increase in comparison to the previous year. Renewables consumption has progressively increased within the period of consideration, reaching 8.6 quadrillion British thermal units that in 2024.

In 2024, some 453 terawatt hours of electricity was generated from wind sources in 2024, making this the most used renewable source in the United States. By comparison, electricity generation from conventional hydroelectric power plants stood at almost 240 terawatt hours.

This statistic gives outlook figures on the renewable energy capacity in the U.S. electric power sector from 2009 to 2035. In 2015, the capacity from renewable energy sources is estimated to be 136.33 gigawatts.

As of 2018, the Utah-based operator, Western Electricity Coordinating Council (WECC), accounted for the highest share of cumulative renewable energy installed capacity compared to its total generation capacity in the United States, at some **** percent.

The industrial sector is the second-leading consumer of renewable energy across the United States, with a consumption of ***** trillion British thermal units in 2024. By comparison, the U.S. residential sector consumed *** trillion British thermal units of renewable energy that year.

The electric power sector in the United States had the highest renewable energy consumption in 2022, at about **** quadrillion British thermal units. In 2023, the industrial sector was expected to consume **** quadrillion British thermal units of renewable energy.

In 2024, net solar power generation in the United States reached its highest point yet at 218.5 terawatt hours of solar thermal and photovoltaic (PV) power. Solar power generation has increased drastically over the past two decades, especially since 2011, when it hovered just below two terawatt hours. The U.S. solar industry In the United States, an exceptionally high number of solar-related jobs are based in California. With a boost from state legislation, California has long been a forerunner in solar technology. In the second quarter of 2024, it had a cumulative solar PV capacity of more than 48 gigawatts. Outside of California, Texas, Florida, and North Carolina were the states with the largest solar PV capacity. Clean energy in the U.S. In recent years, solar power generation has seen more rapid growth than wind power in the United States. However, among renewables used for electricity, wind has been a more common and substantial source for the past decade. Wind power surpassed conventional hydropower as the largest source of renewable electricity in 2019. While there are major environmental costs often associated with the construction and operation of large hydropower facilities, hydro remains a vital source of electricity generation for the United States.

Nuclear power had the highest capacity factor among energy sources in the United States, at over 92 percent in 2024. Geothermal energy-generating facilities followed and had the largest capacity factor among renewable sources at 65 percent. In contrast, natural gas and petroleum ranked the lowest. Cost of nuclear power in the United States Despite the large capacity factor, nuclear power plants had one of the highest levelized costs of electricity in the country. The operating expenses of nuclear utilities in the U.S. are nearly 50 percent lower than those of fossil fuel power plants, indicating higher capital expenditure for these facilities. Capacity factor of renewable energy plants Excluding geothermal energy, the capacity factor of renewable energy plants in the U.S. was roughly 34 percent for hydropower and wind energy and close to 23 percent for solar photovoltaic and solar thermal in 2023. Overall, the capacity factor of offshore wind power worldwide was at 41 percent in 2023, while the one of utility-scale solar PV was at approximately 16 percent in that year.

In 2022, the United States' cumulative wind capacity reached an estimated 149 gigawatts. Among the various sources of renewable energy capacity, solar and wind capacity had a linear growth in the U.S. since the start of the decade.

Petroleum is the primary source of energy in the United States, with a consumption of 35.35 quadrillion British thermal units in 2024. Closely following, the U.S. had 34.2 quadrillion British thermal units of energy derived from natural gas. Energy consumption by sector in the United States Petroleum is predominantly utilized as a fuel in the transportation sector, which is also the second-largest consumer of energy in the U.S. with almost 30 percent of the country’s total energy consumption in 2024. This figure is topped only by the energy-guzzling industrial sector, a major consumer of fossil fuels such as petroleum and natural gas. Renewable energy in the United States Despite the prevalence of fossil fuels in the U.S. energy mix, the use of renewable energy consumption has grown immensely in the last decades to approximately 11 exajoules in 2023. Most of the renewable energy produced in the U.S. is derived from biomass, hydro and wind sources. In 2024, renewable electricity accounted for approximately 24 percent of the nation’s total electricity generation.

This statistic shows the nameplate capacity of renewable resources as a percentage of U.S. electricity generating capacity between 2000 and 2018. In 2018, renewable electricity capacity accounted for some **** percent of total U.S. generating capacity.

The statistic shows the renewable and total electricity net summer capacity in the U.S. between 2009 and 2019. In 2019, the figure for renewable energy capacity installed stood at about 20.2 gigawatts.

On average, around ** percent of U.S. adults stated that the most important priority for addressing energy supply should be expanding wind, solar, and hydrogen production. Furthermore, such support gets polarized when comparing the political preferences of the interviewees. Almost ********** of respondents who identified as Republican or leaning Republican stated they prefer addressing energy supply with expanding oil, coal, and natural gas exploration and production.