The Sustainable Energy in America 2013 Factbook portrays a dynamic and rapidly changing U.S. energy landscape. Natural gas and renewables have gained market share largely at the expense of conventional resources. Energy efficiency is also making a major impact, and as a result energy demand has fallen steeply.

From 2007 to 2012, natural gas rose to 27.2 percent of total energy consumption (including electricity, heat, and transportation) from 23.4 percent, while renewables including wind, solar, biomass, and hydropower have jumped to 9.4 percent from 6.4 percent. Meanwhile, during the same period, coal declined to 18.1 percent from 22.5 percent and oil fell to 36.7 percent from 39.3 percent. U.S. energy-related CO2 emissions from 2007 to 2012 declined 13 percent.

“Significant changes are occurring in the U.S. energy sector that are boosting investment and accelerating deployment of a range of commercially available clean technologies,” said Lisa Jacobson, president of the Business Council for Sustainable Energy. “The 2013 Factbook outlines these dynamics and provides the very latest data, not just on how much is being invested or how much is getting built, but on today’s costs for these technologies. Our hope is that the report serves as a useful tool for policymakers and investors seeking the very best benchmarks in the energy sector.”

The Factbook highlights how energy efficiency is increasingly becoming a priority, particularly among large power consumers such as manufacturers who are being ever more cost-conscious. U.S. utility budgets for efficiency expenditures reached $7 billion in 2011 (the latest available date for which data exists), and financing for energy efficiency retrofits has become increasingly sophisticated, propelling further greening of U.S. buildings. Since 1980, energy intensity of commercial buildings has fallen by more than 40 percent. Overall, energy demand decreased by 6.4 percent from 2007 to 2012 largely due to efficiency gains and despite economic growth.

Renewable energy sources are being built quickly while renewable energy production costs are dropping. The total installed renewable capacity has more than doubled in the five years between 2008 and 2012. The cost of electricity generated by average large solar power plants has fallen from 31 cents per kilowatt-hour in 2009 to 14 cents per kilowatt-hour in 2012 (excluding the effect of tax credits and other incentives, which would bring those costs down even lower). Over the same period, the cost of power from a typical large wind farm has decreased from 9 cents per kilowatt-hour in 2009 to 8 cents per kilowatt-hour.

“These new energy technologies, which some still claim aren’t ready for prime time, are already making a major impact on U.S. energy,” said Ethan Zindler, head of policy analysis at Bloomberg New Energy Finance. “And the U.S. has only begun to receive the full benefit of lower prices for clean energy equipment.”

The complete report is available at www.bcse.org/sustainableenergyfactbook.

Publication date: 2/11/2013