Renewable energy makes up eight percent of U.S. energy consumption in 2010

HOUSTON, Nov 09, 2011 -- Xinhua

Consumption of renewable energy has seen a considerable rise in the U.S. in the past decade, and represented about 8 percent of total energy consumption in the country in 2010, according to a report released on Wednesday.

Wind and biofuels consumption in the U.S. increased about 16 times and 8 times respectively between 2000 and 2010, thanks to lowered production costs and policy incentives, the report issued by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) shows.

Electricity generation from wind increased from about 6 billion kilowatthours in 2000 to about 95 billion kilowatthours in 2010, as improved technology has decreased the cost of producing electricity from wind, the report says.

Meanwhile, several policies, including the government's production tax credits and grants and the establishment of renewable energy credits, also contributed to the growth in U.S. wind power use.

In terms of biofuel power use, the EIA report shows that in 2010, Americans consumed about 13 billion gallons of fuel ethanol, the primary biofuel used in the U.S., compared to less than 2 billion gallons in 2000.

Though biomass, including biofuels, wood and organic waste, represents the largest single source of renewable fuel in the U.S., the report says hydroelectric power generation is the largest source of renewable energy when the types of biomass are considered as separate categories.

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