By Daniel Fleischmann
Quietly, geothermal is on track for its best year ever. Geothermal generation is on pace to generate over 17,000 GWh this year; an industry record and still the most any country has ever generated in one year.
The U.S. Energy Information Agency (EIA) on Nov. 29 released electric generation statistics through the end of September 2016. Generation from geothermal, solar, and wind energy increased by 24 percent compared with the first nine months of 2015. Non-hydro renewable energy, including biomass, has made up 8.5 percent of U.S. electric generation thus far in 2016.
Overall, renewable energy sources, including hydro-electric power, made up 15.1 percent of total U.S. electric generation through the first nine months of 2016. This is down from 16.9 percent during the first half of 2016 (with 9.2 percent from non-hydro renewables), but still far ahead of 2015. Non-hydro renewable energy is still expected to be over 9 percent of total generation by the end of the year, up from 7.6 percent in 2015.