EIA: Renewables dominate power grid by 2050
This is part of an article written by James Osborne of the Houston Chronicle
WASHINGTON - In a shift from earlier forecasts, the U.S. Energy Information Administration is forecasting that renewables, not natural gas, will be dominant source of electricity on the U.S. power grid by 2050.
Over the next three decades, wind, solar and hydroelectric power are expected to double in their share of U.S. power generation to 38 percent. At the same time natural gas falls from 39 percent last year to 36 percent, coal from 24 percent to 13 percent and nuclear from 19 percent to 12 percent.
The report marks a contrast with last year's outlook, in which the EIA predicted natural gas would remain the dominant fuel through 2050, according to Greentech Media.
"We see renewables as the fastest-growing source of electricity generation through 2050 as cost declines make them economically competitive beyond the expiration of existing federal and state policy supports,” EIA Administrator Linda Capuano said in a statement.