Use of coal to generate electricity in U.S. falls to all-time low
Utility company’s use of coal drops significantly in 2015
The use of coal to generate electricity in the U.S. fell to a historic low level in 2015, as utility companies increasingly moved away from the fossil fuel.
According to a recent study by the Business Council for Sustainable Energy (BCSE), coal sourced 34 percent of U.S. electricity generation in 2015, which is a decrease from 39 percent in 2014. Coal-generated electricity reached its peak in 2005, accounting for 50 percent of all U.S. electricity generation.
The move away from what is largely considered to be the “dirtiest” of fossil fuels is dramatically noted in the figures that are coming out.
US electricity industry's use of coal fell to historic low in 2015 as plants closed https://t.co/GkA2adDnCT
— Guardian US (@GuardianUS) February 4, 2016
Coal plants shuttered
Environmental regulations and a move to cleaner sources of power caused a number of coal plants across the U.S. to be shuttered in 2015. According to the BCSE, over 40GW of coal-burning power plants have been disconnected since 2005, while less than half — 19GW — of coal-burning generation was added to the grid.
Natural gas usage spiked
At the same time coal-generated electricity generation was slowing down, the use of natural gas as an electricity source spiked.
Natural gas production, and the resulting natural gas storage inventories, reached record highs in 2015, as natural gas produced more than 32 percent of all electricity generation last year.
Source → Business Council for Sustainable Energy (BCSE)
