December 14, 2015
By Erin Voegele
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory has released its 2014 Data Book, showcasing increased use of renewable energy. According to the report, renewables accounted for approximately 11.1 percent of U.S. energy production in 2014. U.S. energy production totaled approximately 87 quadrillion Btu (quad) in 2014, with renewables accounting for 9.7 quad of that amount.
Natural gas accounted for 35 percent of U.S. energy production in 2014, with coal accounting for 23.3 percent. Crude oil accounted for 21 percent and nuclear accounted for 9.6 percent.
Biomass accounted for 5.6 percent of energy projection followed by hydropower at 2.8 percent, wind at 2 percent, solar at 0.5 percent and geothermal at 0.3 percent.
U.S. energy consumption reached 98.3 quad last year, with 35.4 percent of that volume coming from petroleum, 28 percent from natural gas, 18.2 percent from coal, 8.5 percent from nuclear and 9.8 percent from renewables. Biomass accounted for 4.9 percent, followed by 2.5 percent for hydropower, 1.8 percent from wind, 0.4 percent from solar, and 0.2 percent from geothermal.
Regarding ethanol, the report indicates U.S. production increased by nearly 7.6 percent in 2014, reaching 14.3 billion gallons. The increase was experienced despite sharp ethanol and gasoline price decreases. In comparison, only 1.622 billion gallons of ethanol was produced in 2000.
Last year, the U.S. produced an estimated 58 percent of the world’s ethanol. Brazil produced 25 percent, while the European Union produced 6 percent, China produced 3 percent and Canada produced 2 percent. On a global basis, ethanol production has increased from 10.77 billion gallons in 2004 to 24.57 billion gallons last year.
Of the 19,282 alternatively fueling stations in the U.S., NREL reports 15 percent supply E85. Approximately 57 percent supply electricity, while 15 supply propane, 8 percent supply compressed natural gas, 4 percent supply B20, 0.6 percent supply liquefied natural gas, and 0.3 percent supply hydrogen.
Iowa is the top state for ethanol production, with 3.99 billion gallons of capacity, followed by Nebraska with 1.99 billion gallons, Illinois with 1.43 billion gallons, Minnesota with 1.13 billion gallons and Indiana with 1.05 billion gallons.
The report also addresses biodiesel, reporting that the U.S. led the world in biodiesel production last year, followed by Germany, Brazil, Argentina, France and Indonesia. Globally, biodiesel production grew from 555 million gallons in 2004 to 7.85 billion gallons in 2014.
In the U.S., biodiesel production reached 1.8 billion gallons in 2013, falling to 1.75 billion gallons last year. In 2001, the U.S. produced only 5 million gallons of biodiesel.
A full copy of the report is available on NREL’s website.
Read the original story: NREL's 2014 Data Book Features Ethanol Statistics