In the first six months of 2022, 24% of U.S. utility-scale electricity generation came from renewable sources, based on data from our Electric Power Monthly. The renewables’ share increased from 21% for the same time period last year. Renewables are the fastest-growing electricity generation source in the United States.

In 2020, U.S. greenhouse gas emissions totaled 5,981 million metric tons (13.2 trillion pounds) of carbon dioxide equivalents. This total represents a 7% decrease since 1990 and a 20% decrease since 2005. Due to the pandemic, they are expected to increase by 1.5% in 2022 and then decrease to 2.3% in 2023 to just under levels in 2021.

We note that the percentage of renewable sourced electricity generation will continue to increase as total emissions continue to decrease during the period 2022-2030 as well as in 2035. Therefore, we suggest that renewable sourced electricity generation be used as a proxy measure for estimating trends in greenhouse gas emissions.

This Post was submitted by Climate Scorecard Acting US Country Manager Ron Israel