US consumed more renewables than coal in 2019

United States consumers used more energy from renewable sources than from coal in 2019, the first time that national renewable energy use has exceeded coal since at least 1885, according to recently released federal data. Continued significant decreases in coal consumption, combined with increases in renewable energy consumption, largely explain the phenomenon.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration tracks the domestic production and consumption of energy resources. According to EIA, wood dominated historic energy use until the mid-1800s; by the 1880s, hydropower plants and coal-fueled thermal power plants were increasingly used to provide electricity. By 1885, EIA's model shows a higher level of coal consumption than for renewable energy, and coal's share of domestic energy consumption remained above renewables for the following 133 years.

Coal's share of U.S. energy consumption peaked around the first decade of the new millenium, and has generally declined since then. In 2019, EIA data shows U.S. coal consumption decreasing for a sixth consecutive year, reaching 11.3 quadrillion Btu -- the lowest level since 1964. EIA attributes this largely to reductions in the use of coal to generate electricity, which reached its lowest level in 42 years in 2019.

Meanwhile, total domestic renewable energy consumption grew for the fourth consecutive year in 2019, setting a new record of 11.5 quadrillion Btu. EIA says the growth in U.S. renewable energy since 2015 is "almost entirely attributable to the use of wind and solar in the electric power sector", with wind surpassing hydro as the dominant renewable resource for the first time.

The overall 2019 result was preceded by a finding that renewable production exceeded coal production in the month of April 2019. Last year also saw other records set as well, including an excess of U.S. energy production over consumption for the first time since 1957.