Solar supplied 12.8% of US electricity in May even as Trump boosts coal over clean energy

Solar supplied 12.8% of US electricity in May even as Trump boosts coal over clean energy

Even as Donald Trump boosts coal over clean energy, solar power is hitting new milestones in the US and remains the leading source of new power.

Data released Wednesday by global energy thinktank Ember, along with a report by the Solar Energy Industries Association (Seia) and analytics firm Wood Mackenzie, show the continued growth of solar and decline of coal in the United States despite federal policy. In May, for the first time, solar supplied more of the nation’s electricity than coal, or 12.8%, Ember said. Coal supplied 12.2%, its fourth-lowest monthly share ever.

“For years solar power has risen in the US electricity mix,” said Nicolas Fulghum, senior energy and data analyst at Ember. “At the same time, coal power has lost its status, first as the largest source in the US mix, and then gradually over the years has fallen even further.”

    • AA5B
      4·
      1 day ago

      I was wondering about that. That’s amazing progress, but let’s also get those wind numbers up

  • FistingEnthusiast
    25·
    1 day ago

    That has always been the the MO of 'Murica

    They will always do all they can to be wrong, because they choose the shitty stupidity because they are driven by ignorance and hate

    But occasionally they get something right, only because they ran out of stupid

    • rynn@piefed.socialEnglish
      25·
      1 day ago

      Oh we didn’t run out of stupid, it’s just that America is absolutely coin operated. Solar is cheaper per power generated now and that means America will adopt it over the long run even while they shit on it.

      Look at Texas’s energy production, they are leading in renewable energy because it’s cheaper but publicly they make fun of it because the people are dumb.

      If there’s one product you can count on America for it’s the export of stupid.

      • FistingEnthusiast
        5·
        1 day ago

        The exporting of stupid is one thing, because even the dumbest of people in the civilised world sees it as stupid

        It’s the export of hatred.

        Its telling people that their lives will be better, if they can just hate brown people, or queer people, or anyone just a bit harder

        'Murica exports war. Political, economic, and cultural in an attempt to grab power, resources, influence or just a cancerous presence sitting in the background

  • UnderpantsWeevilEnglish
    121·
    1 day ago

    • Degrade and underinvest in rail networks, so you can’t move coal cheaply across the country

    • Knock out Russian gas production, so it’s more profitable to ship NGLs overseas than use them at home

    • Blockade the Straight of Hormuz, so you lose access to cheaply refined petroleum.

    • Also, sabotage productive capacity in Venezuela and tear up all your sulfur refining facilities, so you can’t exploit the largest fuel reserve in the Western Hemisphere

    Sunny Days Are Here Again.

    Thanks, Donald!

    • AA5B
      3·
      1 day ago

      Degrade and underinvest in rail networks

      Fuck that, freight rail has been doing that for over half a century. Coal doesn’t care how slow it moves or how off schedule it is, but when that’s all freight ts cares about, they ruin rail for everyone.

      Time to seize that track by eminent domain, force them to obey the law giving g passenger rail priority, and forcing maintenance if they want to use the track

  • HubertManne@piefed.socialEnglish
    4·
    1 day ago

    This kinda scare me because I thought coal was surpassed awhile back. Likely it was all renewables but for some reason I thought both wind and solar had done it individually.

  • FeathercrownEnglish
    1·
    24 hours ago

    I feel like this should be “than coal in US” not “in US than coal” for some reason