{"id":68370,"date":"2015-12-28T13:27:10","date_gmt":"2015-12-28T13:27:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=68370"},"modified":"2015-12-28T13:27:10","modified_gmt":"2015-12-28T13:27:10","slug":"renewable-energy-soars-in-2015","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2015\/12\/renewable-energy-soars-in-2015\/","title":{"rendered":"Renewable Energy Soars in 2015"},"content":{"rendered":"

With Tax Incentives’ Renewal, Expect More of the Same in Years to Come<\/em><\/p>\n

23 Dec 2015 – <\/em>2015 has been a big year for renewable energy<\/a> in the U.S., with solar and wind power growing like crazy\u2014providing more than 5\u00a0percent of the nation\u2019s electricity for the first time\u2014and the country\u2019s\u00a0first offshore wind power project<\/a> finally under construction.<\/p>\n

The truth is, 2015 has been one in a series of very good years for these pollution-free, renewable resources\u2014years that are helping us get on track for the low-carbon<\/a> future we need and need now.<\/p>\n

\"In<\/a>

In 2015, reports found solar jobs grew by 31,000 and wind power jobs by more than 22,000, as part of windspread clean energy deployment. Photo credit: Massachusetts Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs \/ Flickr<\/p><\/div>\n

With its dizzying price declines and impressive job gains, this growth in solar and wind power has come, in large part, as the result of smart federal policies\u2014smart federal policies that Congress wisely renewed and reinstated last week<\/a>.<\/p>\n

These policies don\u2019t just help level the playing field for clean energy\u2014fossil fuels have received federal subsidies for almost a century, after all\u2014they also drive renewable energy demand, thereby speeding economies of scale, spurring competition in the marketplace and investment in new technologies. The production tax credit (PTC) for wind power, the solar investment tax credit (ITC) and the ITC for offshore wind<\/a> power will keep us on the right track.<\/p>\n

Together, these tax credits will help our country go a long way toward realizing the bold clean energy goals of a large majority of the American public, 69 percent of whom\u00a0endorse federal subsidies<\/a>\u00a0for renewable energy.<\/p>\n

Just how good is our clean energy situation getting? Well, recently, the U.S. Department of Energy released these very happy-making charts (below) that emphasize renewable energy\u2019s huge growth and equally huge price declines in recent years.<\/p>\n

In 2015, those particularly excellent trends continued. Though we won\u2019t have complete data until next spring, the country will likely install 7.4 gigawatts of solar energy through Dec. 31 of this year. That\u2019s enough to juice up more than 1.6 million homes and a full 24 percent rise over 2014. Wind power is also flying, with almost 3.6 gigawatts\u20141 million homes-worth\u2014coming online in the first three quarters of this year and more than 13,000 megawatts now under construction.<\/p>\n

\"1graph_750<\/a><\/p>\n

\"1graph_750<\/a><\/p>\n

These U.S. Department of Energy graphs show how the prices of wind and solar power have plummeted as installation has soared. We saw more of the same in 2015 and can expect similar growth in 2016 and beyond, thanks to Congress\u2019s renewal last week of key clean energy tax incentives. Photo credit: U.S. DEP<\/p>\n

This year also found several regions where pollution-free, solar and wind energy became cost-competitive with conventional power. That power, fired by coal and natural gas, masquerades as cheap but actually foists expensive public health and environmental problems on us all.<\/p>\n

2015 had some especially good news about offshore wind power, too. Not only did construction begin on the Block Island Wind Farm, off the Rhode Island coast, but the U.S. Department of Energy reported in September that a total of 13 offshore wind power projects are in advanced phases of development. With federal policies that supplement the offshore wind power ITC\u2014its current timetable is too short for most offshore wind power projects\u2014we can help get many of those projects off of their drawing boards and into the water.<\/p>\n

Wind and Solar Jobs Are Soaring<\/strong><\/p>\n

In 2015, solar and wind energy employment also soared. In January, the National Solar Jobs Census reported that solar jobs had climbed to almost 174,000, up by more than 31,000 over the previous year, with another 36,000 solar jobs projected in 2015. (Industry jobs are up by a mind-boggling 80,000 since 2010.) In August, the Department of Energy reported that wind energy jobs jumped to 73,000, up from 50,500 over the previous year, thanks to a short-term extension of the PTC.<\/p>\n

Also in August, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency\u2019s Clean Power Plan<\/a>\u00a0to cut carbon emissions from the nation\u2019s electric sector introduced its Clean Energy Incentive Program, designed to bring more clean energy online faster; it will begin in 2020, two years before the\u00a0Clean Power Plan as a whole. Overall, the\u00a0Clean Power Plan can jumpstart enough renewable energy to supply, by 2030, about 12 percent of the nation\u2019s electricity. And we can push those deployment graph slopes further upward\u2014we can install even more wind and solar power\u2014now that the PTC, the solar ITC and the offshore wind power ITC have been secured. They\u2019ll help us keep that momentum going until the Clean Energy Incentive Program kicks in. As they have already, incentives that increase deployment lower clean energy prices. And the cheaper renewable energy is, the more it will become of the energy source of choice, replacing polluting power.<\/p>\n

2015: A Year of Innovation and Progress<\/strong><\/p>\n

This year has seen amazing advances in renewable energy. Here are just some of them:<\/p>\n