Green Business: Renewable Energy grows 12.4% in first quarter

After receiving more investment dollars in 2008 than fossil-fuel projects for the first time, we see that Renewable Energy is growing greatly early in 2009. This dramatic growth is more evidence that eventually, fossil fuel and nuclear power will be obsolete, or at least very minimally used.

From SustainableBusiness.com:

Even with the difficult market conditions confronting the renewable energy industry this year, the sector grew 12.4% in the first quarter - renewables now supply over 3.9% of U.S. electricity (excluding conventional hydro).

Net electrical generation in the U.S. dropped 4.3% from March 2008 to March 2009, the eighth consecutive month that net generation was down compared to the same calendar month in the prior year, according to the Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) latest “Electric Power Monthly” report.

Year over year, coal-fired generation dropped 15.3%, conventional hydro grew 1.1%, geothermal increased 1.7% and wind grew 38.5%. Conventional hydro supplied 6.5% of total U.S. electrical generation in March 2009, while renewables generated 3.9%. Renewable sources of electricity continued to enjoy double-digit growth during the past year.  By comparison, coal and natural gas use plummeted while nuclear remained flat.

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