Renewables Then and Now

The United States must get more of its energy from renewable resources today than we did, say, in 1950. Right? Well, no.

The Hoover Institution reported the following last week in its “Facts on Policy”:

In 1950, renewable energy sources accounted for 9 percent of total energy consumed in the United States; fossil fuels accounted for the other 91 percent. By contrast, in 2006, the share of both renewable energy and fossil fuels as a proportion of total energy consumed fell slightly, while the use of nuclear power as a source of energy, negligible in 1950, increased to offset this decline. In 2006, renewable energy accounted for 7 percent of total energy, fossil fuels accounted for 85 percent, and nuclear power accounted for 8 percent.

Interesting.

Hoover went on to note how energy sources vary widely by state. By the way, Washington and Oregon are high on the renewables scale, with 40 percent of their energy coming from hydroelectric power, while Delaware gets a mere 0.6 percent from renewables.