solarsavings

    • Electricity Generation By U.S.

    Solar panels and wind turbines in Palm Springs, California, are doing a lot to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) that is used to make energy in the U.S. 

    In its most recent report on the climate, the IPCC gave a Code Red warning. With what we’re doing now to cut CO2, we won’t be able to keep global warming below the 1.5° C limit set by the Paris Agreement. And that was just to stop climate change from getting worse. We must limit the amount of greenhouse gasses we put into the air if we don’t want climate change to get really bad.

    For example, under the Clean Power Performance Program, power companies in the U.S. would have to reduce their carbon emissions every year. The CEPP just got through the committee stage in Congress, but it faces strong opposition and may not become law in its current form. No matter what kind of law is passed, there is good news for the future.

    Because the national average hides big differences between states, as this map shows. In reality, the United States can be thought of as a huge electricity-generating lab, with each of the 50 states (plus D.C.) making its own strategic choices that lead to very different results, some of which are already surprisingly sustainable.

    Vermont Is At The Top Of The Class.

    Vermont’s top performance in the country is mostly due to hydro, biomass, and wind. In fact, Vermont isn’t even the most environmentally friendly state in the country. It is a very small part of a national energy market that will be worth 4,009 TWh, since it only makes 2.4 TWh of electricity.

    In terms of how many people live there, Washington is in the top 10.  TWh out of the state’s 114.2 TWh of electricity came from renewable sources. This was 84.1 percent of the state’s total electricity production. Illinois is even better, even though it is a little further down the list. The Land of Lincoln got a smaller share  of its energy from sources other than fossil fuels, giving it 122 TWh of renewable energy.

    It’s important to note that the types of energy in these two states are completely different. 66.1 percent of Washington’s electricity comes from hydropower. Illinois gets 57.8 percent of its electricity from nuclear power.

    Gas Used To Make Electricity? Texas Is The Best.

    At the very least, Delaware is a small state, and the amount of pollution it makes by using natural gas to make energy is also small. In a strict sense, Texas can’t lose.

    In 2020, about 40% of the electricity in the United States came from natural gas (or 1,617 TWh). About a sixth of the total amount came from Texas. West Virginia has the most coal of any state in the U.S.

    West Virginia depends on coal more than any other state (80%), which makes it the second-largest non-sustainable energy source. Wyoming, Missouri, Kentucky , Utah, and North Dakota also get more than half of their electricity from coal (52.2 percent).

    Petroleum is the smallest source of energy from fossil fuel. Hawaii is the biggest consumer of oil in the United States. It gets 6 TWh of power from oil, which is a lot (by far, at 66.1 percent, with Alaska second at 16 percent). In absolute terms, Louisiana (3 TWh) and Florida (3 TWh) come in second and third (2 TWh).

    The Atomic

    Nuclear energy is an important part of the energy mix in a number of countries. Nuclear energy makes up 20% of all the energy made in the U.S., which is more than any other renewable source. In some way or another, 29 countries have “gone nuclear” as a whole.

    But a lot of people are against nuclear power, and those who are for it tend to prefer “renewable” sources, which are alternatives that don’t make greenhouse gasses or use up all the resources on Earth. Another fifth of the energy used in the United States comes from these sources. The idea is to make them bigger so that we can use less non-renewable and non-sustainable energy sources or get rid of them altogether.

    The Name For Iowa Is “The Windy State.”

    In 2020, the most important renewable energy source was wind energy (338 TWh). At the moment, Iowa is the only state that gets more than half of its electricity from the wind (57.5%). Kansas (43.3%) may soon catch up, though. In 14 more states, wind makes up more than 10% of the electricity. Only 11 states and the District of Columbia did not get any energy from the wind.