Summary of Trends

This section summarizes the national- and state-level development trends for renewable energy generation from the State of the States project. These trends and the key findings are presented in the State of the States 2009 (PDF 4.2 KB) report.

The areas outlined include:

• Total renewable energy generation
• Renewable energy generation by resource
• Definitions of technologies for data used

Key Findings

• Hydroelectric resources continued to provide the largest portion of renewable energy generation in the United States in 2007, although it is down 14% from 2006. In addition to many of the larger-scale hydroelectric resources having already been developed, this decline could be the result of increased development of other renewable energy resources and drought conditions across the country.
• Wind energy accounted for the largest percentage of nationwide growth in renewable generation between 2001–2007, as well as between 2006–2007.
• Biomass development continues to grow across most regions of the United States, indicating the widespread nature of biomass resource. The leading states in biomass generation growth from 2006 – 2007 are spread across the United States, including Delaware, Utah, Minnesota, and Alaska.
• Although generation from renewable resources as a percent of total national generation declined from 2006 to 2007, generation from non-hydroelectric renewable resources increased its share of total national generation.
• Renewable energy growth is largely outstripped by economic growth as measured by gross state product (GSP) and population growth.
• According to the Energy Information Administration (EIA) data, between 2001 and 2007:
  • 32 states increased electricity generation from biomass resources
  • 28 states from wind electricity production
  • 4 states from geothermal electricity production, and
  • 4 states from large-scale solar electricity production (distributed solar not collected by EIA)