US experienced staggering growth in solar and wind power over the last decade
By Syris Valentine | GRIST
April 3, 2024 | Full story
When you live far from the sprawling fields befitting utility-scale solar and wind farms, it’s easy to feel like clean energy isn’t coming online fast enough. But renewables have grown at a staggering rate since 2014 and now account for 22 percent of the nation’s electricity. Solar alone has grown an impressive eightfold in 10 years.
“I think the rate at which renewables have been able to grow is just something that most people don’t recognize.”
Amanda Levin, director of policy analysis at the National Resources Defense Council
The sun and the wind have been the country’s fastest growing sources of energy over the past decade, according to a report released by the nonprofit Climate Central on Wednesday (13-page PDF).
With the Inflation Reduction Act poised to kick that growth curve higher with expanded tax credits for manufacturing and installing photovoltaic panels and wind turbines, the most optimistic projections suggest that the country is getting ever closer to achieving its 2030 and 2035 clean energy goals.
“One thing that surprised a lot of different people who’ve read the report in our office was the strength of small-scale solar.”
Jen Brady, lead analyst on the Climate Central report
The Energy Age 