A new report indicates that Utah is among state leaders in seeing growth in renewable energy generation.
The report, titled “Renewables on the Rise: A Decade of Progress toward a Clean Energy Future” and compiled by Frontier Group and Environment America Research & Policy Center, shows that Utah saw significant growth in wind and solar power generation between 2008 and 2017, as well as growth in the sales of electric vehicles (EVs).
Utah ranked ninth among states for the increase in annual solar power generation between 2008 and 2017, when it grew by 2,262 gigawatt-hours. The state’s wind power generation grew 39-fold during that time, from 24 GWh to 935 GWh, with the 911-GWh growth ranking 27th among states.
Combined, wind and solar in 2017 totaled 3,197 GWh, or enough to power 297,000 homes and account for 10.6 percent of total Utah electricity consumption — 19th among states. For comparison, North Dakota led states, with 58.3 percent of its consumption coming from wind and solar generation. Kentucky was last, with 0.1 percent.
Utah was eighth among states for EV sales, with 2.8 EVs sold per 1,000 registered vehicles. Through 2017, Utah had 2,639 EV sales.
Nationally, energy from solar rooftops and utility-scale power plants grew 39-fold since 2008. In 2008, it produced only 0.05 percent of the nation’s power. In 2017, it produced 2.1 percent. At the end of the 2018 first quarter, the nation had enough solar capacity to power more than 10 million homes.
Meanwhile, wind energy has increased nearly five-fold. In 2008, it produced 1.5 percent of the nation’s electricity, or enough for more than 3 million homes. In 2017, wind accounted for 6.9 percent of U.S. power, or enough to power 24 million homes.
“Over the last decade, clean energy has grown by leaps and bounds,” the report said. “Technologies that can help America shift away from fossil fuels — like solar panels, wind turbines, LED light bulbs, energy storage and electric cars — have gone from novelties to core features of the nation’s energy landscape.”
A decade ago, wind turbines and solar panels were novelties but now are everyday parts of the nation’s energy landscape, it said. “Electric cars and the use of batteries to store excess electricity on the grid seemed like far-off solutions just a few years ago; now, they are breaking through into the mass market,” it said.
Annual sales of electric vehicles in the U.S. have grown to more than 100,000, and battery energy storage has grown 17-fold, the report said. Over the past decade, EV sales totaled 395,000. Annual sales topped 100,000 for the first time in 2017. During that year alone, EV sales grew by 24 percent.
The report said that if renewable energy generation grows by 14 percent per year — or about two-thirds of the current growth rate — wind and solar sources will produce enough power to meet all of the nation’s current electricity needs by the year 2035.
“The U.S. can and must accelerate our clean energy progress and end our dependence on fossil fuels in order to prevent the worst impacts of global warming,” it said. “Transitioning to clean, renewable energy will also improve our health by preventing hazardous air pollution.”