U.S. RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES AND CONSUMPTION FOR 2004-2008

Renewable energy consumption grew by 7 percent between 2007 and 2008, despite a 2 percent decline in total U.S. energy consumption (Table 1 - Below). Total renewable energy consumption increased by 487 trillion Btu to 7,301 trillion Btu. This is the highest level attained based on EIA estimates of renewable energy back to 1949, and is due to substantial increases in the use of biofuels, wind and solar energy. Renewable energy’s share of total U.S. energy consumption was over 7 percent in 2008, compared to 6 percent in 2004 (Figure 1 - Below).

Renewable energy is consumed across all 5 energy use sectors (Table 2 - Below). The two largest consuming sectors are electric power and industrial, though patterns are changing. In 2008, the electric power sector accounted for 51 percent of renewable energy consumption and the industrial sector 28 percent, down from 56 and 30 percent, respectively, in 2004. This was due in some measure to the substantial change in the transportation sector, whose share rose from 5 to 11 percent between 2004 and 2008. The gain was due to increased consumption of biofuels, primarily ethanol derived from corn, but also to a lesser extent biodiesel. Both are fuels needed to meet the Federal Renewable Fuel Standard, which requires an increasing supply of renewable fuels through 2022.

The Renewable Fuels Association reported that the number of operating ethanol refineries in the U.S. more than doubled in number from 81 in January 2005 to 170 in January 2009.^[1] Capacity was spread across the United States but concentrated in the midwestern states. These refineries were responsible for producing 220 million barrels, or 778 trillion Btu of fuel ethanol in 2008, up from 81 million barrels or 287 trillion Btu in 2004.^[2] When trade and stock changes are accounted for, ethanol consumption was 229 million barrels, or 809 trillion Btu in 2008. Related ethanol co-products and losses in the industrial sector increased from 210 to 562 trillion Btu between 2004 and 2008.

Biodiesel consumption declined from 46 trillion Btu in 2007 to 41 trillion Btu in 2008 due to the large volume of exports. U.S. domestic biodiesel production was actually up from 62 to 87 trillion Btu between 2007 and 2008.^[3]

Finally the two smallest sectors, residential and commercial, maintained their shares of total renewable energy consumption at 8 and 2 percent, respectively.

 

Table 1 - U.S. Energy Consumption by Energy Source - 2004 through 2008 (Quadrillion BTU's)
Energy Source	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008
Total	100.349	100.485	99.876	101.552	99.305
Fossil Fuels	85.830	85.817	84.690	86.174	83.436
Coal	22.466	22.797	22.447	22.748	22.421
Coal Coke Net Imports	0.137	0.045	0.061	0.025	0.040
Natural Gas1	22.931	22.583	22.224	23.628	23.838
Petroleum2	40.294	40.393	39.958	39.773	37.137
Electricity Net Imports	0.039	0.084	0.063	0.106	0.113
Nuclear Electric Power	8.222	8.160	8.214	8.458	8.455
Renewable Energy	6.260	6.423	6.909	6.814	7.301
Biomass3	3.023	3.133	3.361	3.597	3.884
Biofuels	0.513	0.594	0.795	1.025	1.413
Waste	0.389	0.403	0.414	0.430	0.431
Wood Derived Fuels	2.121	2.136	2.152	2.142	2.041
Geothermal Energy	0.341	0.343	0.343	0.349	0.358
Hydroelectric Conventional	2.690	2.703	2.869	2.446	2.453
Solar/PV Energy	0.065	0.066	0.072	0.081	0.091
Wind Energy	0.142	0.178	0.264	0.341	0.514
1 Includes supplemental gaseous fuels. 2 Petroleum products supplied, including natural gas plant liquids and crude oil burned as fuel. 3 Biomass includes: biofuels, waste (landfill gas, MSW biogenic, and other biomass), wood and wood derived fuels. PV = Photovoltaic. Notes: Data revisions are discussed in the Highlights section. Totals may not equal sum of components due to independent rounding. Data for 2008 is preliminary. Sources: Non-renewable energy: Energy Information Administration (EIA), Monthly Energy Review (MER) April 2009, DOE/EIA-0035 (2009/04) (Washington, DC, April 2009), Tables 1.3, 1.4a and 1.4b; Renewable Energy: Table 2 of this report.

 

Table 2 Renewable Energy Consumption by Energy Use Sector and Energy Source, 2004 - 2008 (Quadrillion Btu)
Sector and Source	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008
Total	6.260	6.423	6.909	6.814	7.301
Biomass	3.023	3.133	3.361	3.597	3.884
Biofuels	0.513	0.594	0.795	1.025	1.413
Biodiesel1	0.003	0.012	0.033	0.046	0.041
Ethanol2	0.299	0.342	0.462	0.580	0.809
Losses and Coproducts	0.210	0.240	0.300	0.399	0.563
Biodiesel Feedstock3	*	*	*	0.001	0.001
Ethanol Feedstock4	0.210	0.240	0.299	0.398	0.562
Waste	0.389	0.403	0.414	0.430	0.431
Landfill Gas	0.144	0.148	0.157	0.173	0.187
MSW Biogenic5	0.164	0.168	0.171	0.165	0.168
Other Biomass6	0.081	0.088	0.086	0.092	0.076
Wood and Derived Fuels7	2.121	2.136	2.152	2.142	2.041
Geothermal	0.341	0.343	0.343	0.349	0.358
Hydroelectric Conventional	2.690	2.703	2.869	2.446	2.453
Solar/PV	0.065	0.066	0.072	0.081	0.091
Wind	0.142	0.178	0.264	0.341	0.514
Residential	0.483	0.507	0.475	0.527	0.599
Biomass	0.410	0.430	0.390	0.430	0.490
Wood and Derived Fuels8	0.410	0.430	0.390	0.430	0.490
Geothermal	0.014	0.016	0.018	0.022	0.026
Solar/PV9	0.059	0.061	0.067	0.075	0.083
Commercial	0.118	0.119	0.117	0.118	0.123
Biomass	0.105	0.105	0.102	0.102	0.107
Biofuels	0.001	0.001	0.001	0.002	0.003
Ethanol2	0.001	0.001	0.001	0.002	0.003
Waste	0.034	0.034	0.036	0.031	0.032
Landfill Gas	0.002	0.003	0.004	0.003	0.003
MSW Biogenic5	0.025	0.025	0.026	0.021	0.022
Other Biomass6	0.007	0.007	0.007	0.007	0.007
Wood and Derived Fuels7	0.070	0.070	0.065	0.069	0.072
Geothermal	0.012	0.014	0.014	0.014	0.015
Hydroelectric Conventional	0.001	0.001	0.001	0.001	0.001
Industrial	1.860	1.883	2.005	2.048	2.056
Biomass	1.824	1.847	1.972	2.028	2.032
Biofuels	0.216	0.247	0.309	0.409	0.577
Ethanol2	0.006	0.007	0.010	0.010	0.014
Losses and Coproducts	0.210	0.240	0.300	0.399	0.563
Biodiesel Feedstock3	*	*	*	0.001	0.001
Ethanol Feedstock4	0.210	0.240	0.299	0.398	0.562
Waste	0.132	0.148	0.147	0.162	0.157
Landfill Gas	0.076	0.081	0.081	0.093	0.105
MSW Biogenic5	0.006	0.007	0.006	0.006	0.004
Other Biomass6	0.050	0.061	0.061	0.063	0.047
Wood and Derived Fuels7	1.476	1.452	1.515	1.457	1.298
Geothermal	0.004	0.004	0.004	0.005	0.005
Hydroelectric Conventional	0.033	0.032	0.029	0.016	0.019
Solar/PV	-	-	-	-	-
Wind	-	-	-	-	-
Transportation	0.295	0.346	0.484	0.614	0.833
Biomass	0.295	0.346	0.484	0.614	0.833
Biofuels	0.295	0.346	0.484	0.614	0.833
Biodiesel1	0.003	0.012	0.033	0.046	0.041
Ethanol2	0.292	0.334	0.451	0.568	0.792
Electric Power10	3.503	3.568	3.827	3.508	3.690
Biomass	0.388	0.406	0.412	0.423	0.423
Waste	0.223	0.221	0.231	0.237	0.242
Landfill Gas	0.066	0.065	0.073	0.077	0.079
MSW Biogenic5	0.133	0.136	0.139	0.138	0.141
Other Biomass6	0.023	0.020	0.019	0.022	0.022
Wood and Derived Fuels7	0.165	0.185	0.182	0.186	0.181
Geothermal	0.311	0.309	0.306	0.308	0.312
Hydroelectric Conventional	2.656	2.670	2.839	2.430	2.433
Solar/PV	0.006	0.006	0.005	0.006	0.008
Wind	0.142	0.178	0.264	0.341	0.514
1 Biodiesel primarily derived from soy bean oil. 2 Ethanol primarily derived from corn. 3 Difference between the energy in biodiesel feedstocks (principally soy bean oil) and the energy in biodiesel consumed in the transportation sector. 4 Difference between energy in ethanol feedstocks (primarily corn) and its coproducts (wet and dry distiller grains), and the energy in ethanol consumed in the transportation sector. 5 Includes paper and paper board, wood, food, leather, textiles and yard trimmings. 6 Agriculture byproducts/crops, sludge waste, and other biomass solids, liquids and gases. 7 Black liquor, and wood/woodwaste solids and liquids. 8 Wood and wood pellet fuels. 9 Includes small amounts of distributed solar thermal and photovoltaic energy used in the commercial, industrial and electric power sectors. 10 The electric power sector comprises electricity-only and combined-heat-power (CHP) plants within North American Classification System (NAICS) 22 category whose primary business is to sell electricity, or electricity and heat, to the public. MSW = Municipal Solid Waste. PV = Photovoltaic. * = Less than 500 billion Btu. - = No data reported.

Courtesy of the U.S. Energy Information Administration - Data for 2004 through 2008