In 2050, only 44% of American green energy will be Green
Renewable energy production is set to more than double its share in US electricity to 44% in 2050 from 21% today, as wind and solar installations are expected to increase, the Energy Information Administration said Friday. (EIA) of the United States.
Energy production from fossil fuels, on the other hand, is expected to decline from 60% in 2021 to 44% in 2050, according to EIA estimates in the reference case of its Annual Energy Outlook 2022 (AEO2022), which assumes laws and current regulations. An important decline, but oil and gas will still remain a non-renounceable element in the US energy mix.
The key drivers of the decline in fossil fuel power generation will be slower growth in natural gas production and the continued shutdown of coal-fired power plants. By 2050, natural gas production is set to increase in absolute terms, but the share of natural gas in the U.S. power generation mix will drop from 37% in 2021 to 34% in 2050, the EIA says. The share of coal in power generation is expected to drop to 10% in 2050 from 23% in 2021.
Hence, solar and wind will drive the growth of renewable energy production over the next three decades, as hydropower is not expected to change much in 2050, while geothermal and biomass would collectively remain less than 3% of the total. total US electricity generation.
Renewables are already accounting for most of the new energy capacity arriving in the United States. This year, the United States will add 46.1 gigawatts (GW) of new industrial-scale power generation capacity to the power grid, the EIA said in January. Nearly half, or 46 percent, of planned capacity additions for 2022 will be solar power, followed by natural gas at 21 percent and wind at 17 percent. Just over half, or 51%, of 2022 wind capacity additions are expected to be in Texas, the EIA said.
Are these predictions realistic? We have seen how an international crisis was enough to restart coal-fired power plants around the world. So are plans created Hic et Nunc, which, probably, will be modified by future evolutions of the economy and technology.
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The article In 2050 only 44% of American green energy will be Green comes from ScenariEconomici.it .
This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/nel-2050-solo-il-44-dellenergia-verde-americana-sara-green/ on Sat, 19 Mar 2022 07:00:27 +0000.