U.S. renewable energy consumption overtakes coal usage for first time since 1880s

In more than 130 years of recorded data, 2019 proved to be the first time renewable energy consumption in the United States surpassed coal consumption, according to the latest Monthly Energy Review from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).

Coal’s use in electricity generation has plummeted over the last decade. Between 2018 and 2019, coal consumption decreased by nearly 15 percent. This marked the sixth consecutive year coal consumption has fallen. Over that same year, renewable energy consumption grew by 1 percent.

Coal consumption is now at its lowest level since 1964: 11.3 quadrillion British thermal units (Btu). Meanwhile, renewables consumption has grown for four years straight, reaching 11.5 quadrillion Btu in 2019, thanks to the widespread expansion of wind and solar power. Also notable for 2019, the year marked the first time wind usage surpassed hydropower as the most used source of renewable energy.

Coal was once commonly used in the industrial, transportation, residential, and commercial sectors, in addition to electricity generation. It’s almost entirely used (90 percent) by the electric power sector now, with most of the remainder used by the industrial sector. Coal’s dominance rose in the 1880s as fuel for steam-powered vessels and steel production before powering the electric industry.

Although the EIA notes wood as the first true source of U.S. renewable energy, which was the primary source until the mid-1880s, it now represents a small part of the field and would be included under biomass. Today, it’s wind and hydroelectric that dominate the field, representing 56 percent of commercially delivered U.S. renewable energy for the electric power sector. However, Biomass remains dominant in the industrial sector, and biofuels like ethanol have a major place in the transportation sector. A mix of wood, waste, solar, and geothermal reign in residential spaces.