NREL's 2014 Data Book features bioenergy statistics
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
December 14, 2015
BY Erin Krueger
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory has released its 2014 Data Book, showcasing increased use of renewable energy. According to the report, renewables accounted for approximately 11.1 percent of U.S. energy production in 2014. U.S. energy production totaled approximately 87 quadrillion Btu (quad) in 2014, with renewables accounting for 9.7 quad of that amount.
Natural gas accounted for 35 percent of U.S. energy production in 2014, with coal accounting for 23.3 percent. Crude oil accounted for 21 percent and nuclear accounted for 9.6 percent.
Biomass accounted for 5.6 percent of energy production, followed by hydropower at 2.8 percent, wind at 2 percent, solar at 0.5 percent and geothermal at 0.3 percent.
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U.S. energy consumption reached 98.3 quad last year, with 35.4 percent of that volume coming from petroleum, 28 percent from natural gas, 18.2 percent from coal, 8.5 percent from nuclear and 9.8 percent from renewables. Regarding renewables, biomass accounted for 4.9 percent, followed by 2.5 percent for hydropower, 1.8 percent from wind, 0.4 percent from solar, and 0.2 percent from geothermal.
The report indicates hydropower accounted for approximately half of total renewable electricity generation last year, with biomass accounting for about 12 percent, wind at 33 percent, solar at 6 percent and geothermal at 3 percent.
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According to NREL, the U.S. added 177 MW of biomass capacity in 2004, 189 MW in 2005, 331 MW in 2006, 185 MW in 2007, 747 MW in 2008, 351 MW in 2009, 218 MW in 2010, 154 MW in 2011, 840 MW in 2012, 658 MW in 2013 and 703 MW in 2014. Overall, biomass capacity increased from 11.03 GW in 2004 to 15.41 GW in 2014. Electricity generation from biomass grew from 53,073 GWh in 2004 to 64,319 GWh in 2014.
California leads the nation in biomass power capacity, with 1.53 GW, followed by Florida with 1.42 GW and Virginia with 1.01 GW. Georgia, Maine, Alabama, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, New York and Minnesota round out the top 10 states for biomass power capacity.
A full copy of the report is available on NREL’s website.
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