EIA: Coal reliance to decline this summer as renewables grow

Jun 13, 2023

This article is published in collaboration with Reuters

The Energy Information Administration (EIA) predicts that higher renewable energy generation will cut coal reliance in the United States this summer. Image: Pexels/Harry Cunningham @harry.digital

Reuters

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The Energy Information Administration (EIA) expects the largest increases in U.S. electricity generation this summer to come from renewable energy sources and natural gas.
Wind-powered generation is expected to be 7% higher than last summer, while solar generation is expected to see a 24% jump.
Battery storage capacity, which helps to provide power when solar and wind resources are low, has surged nearly 90% in the last 12 months.

The Energy Information Administration (EIA) expects the largest increases in the U.S. electricity generation this summer to come from renewable energy sources and natural gas, contributing to a 15% reduction in coal-powered output from the previous year.

Power generation through natural gas, which remains the primary source in the electric power sector, is expected to grow 3% this summer (June to August), helped by additional capacity and favorable fuel costs, the EIA said on Thursday.

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What's the World Economic Forum doing about the transition to clean energy?

Moving to clean energy is key to combating climate change, yet in the past five years, the energy transition has stagnated.

Energy consumption and production contribute to two-thirds of global emissions, and 81% of the global energy system is still based on fossil fuels, the same percentage as 30 years ago. Plus, improvements in the energy intensity of the global economy (the amount of energy used per unit of economic activity) are slowing. In 2018 energy intensity improved by 1.2%, the slowest rate since 2010.

Effective policies, private-sector action and public-private cooperation are needed to create a more inclusive, sustainable, affordable and secure global energy system.

Benchmarking progress is essential to a successful transition. The World Economic Forum’s Energy Transition Index, which ranks 115 economies on how well they balance energy security and access with environmental sustainability and affordability, shows that the biggest challenge facing energy transition is the lack of readiness among the world’s largest emitters, including US, China, India and Russia. The 10 countries that score the highest in terms of readiness account for only 2.6% of global annual emissions.

To future-proof the global energy system, the Forum’s Centre for Energy & Materials is working on initiatives including Clean Power and Electrification, Energy and Industry Transition Intelligence, Industrial Ecosystems Transformation, and Transition Enablers to encourage and enable innovative energy investments, technologies and solutions.

Additionally, the Mission Possible Partnership (MPP) is working to assemble public and private partners to further the industry transition to set heavy industry and mobility sectors on the pathway towards net-zero emissions. MPP is an initiative created by the World Economic Forum and the Energy Transitions Commission.

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Wind-powered generation will be 7% higher than last summer. Solar, for which most of the new installed capacity was concentrated in Texas and California in recent months, will see a 24% jump.

Battery storage capacity, which helps to provide power when solar and wind resources are low, surged nearly 90% in the last 12 months, the EIA said.

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