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Chart 2 Most Common Energy Source

To get a better picture of the spread of energy power plants, this map is color graded based on the number of power plants for each recorded source and finding the greatest value. From this image, in terms of sheer numbers, renewable energy seems to be quite dominant.

Chart 3 Energy Source with Highest Generation (MwH)

In contrast, this map aims to show which energy source / power plant type is contributing the most to energy generation in each state. While some states match in terms of their most common power plant type and the source which generates the most power, namely in the northwest, and the states where natural gas was already most prevalent, others now paint a much different picture.

Renewable v Non-Renewable Over Time Gif

The Energy Policy Act passed in 2005 was meant to address energy production in the US with part of it dedicated to the increasing of renewables. While there was a slow start, likely do to adaption times beginning around 2010 there has been a relatively consistent expansion of renewable energy nationally.

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##Percent Change of Energy Generation Using percent change let’s us see more minute details of this shift. Solar and wind seem to be the driving forces on the renewable energy front while coal and petroleum are taking most of the brunt in the decline of non renewable energy generation

Renewable Energy Consumption by Source

To see where this shift may be coming from, this line plot shows energy consumption of wind, solar, geothermal, and hydroelectric sources. We can see that there have been increases in wind and solar power over the last 20 and 10 years respectively while hydroelectric power has been unsteady and geothermal has remained relatively unchanged.

Chart 5 Table of Renewable Energy Utilization

Despite the capabilities of renewable energy, all energy for that matter, much of it goes unused mainly lost during the conversion and transportation process. According to the data from the US Energy Information Administration a very small fraction of the energy generated by renewable sources is consumed by the US. If we are able to better the processes between generation and end user consumption regardless of sector, it is entirely possible for the US to make strong headway into meeting that carbon neutral goal I mentioned earlier.

Energy Utilization

Year	Geothermal	Hydroelectric	Solar	Waste	Wind	Wood
1990	0.1193644	0.1012080	4.4678344	0.9019057	0.0999989	1.997098
1991	0.1201877	0.1015923	3.6055750	0.8226607	0.0999994	1.924022
1992	0.1214255	0.1016737	4.3867516	0.7784099	0.0999935	1.856108
1993	0.1219918	0.1014556	3.9089906	0.7662644	0.0999970	1.760272
1994	0.1248972	0.1013114	3.8189050	0.7895312	0.0999998	1.795181
1995	0.1308849	0.1008802	3.7986720	0.7633444	0.0999918	1.901750
1996	0.1310841	0.1008933	3.6578419	0.8086477	0.0999991	1.940804
1997	0.1324343	0.1011422	3.6792116	0.7433089	0.0999978	1.880644
1998	0.1353066	0.1013967	3.7010586	0.7079980	0.0999990	1.761537
1999	0.1381447	0.1019409	3.6707723	0.7013239	0.0999955	1.751877
2000	0.1428344	0.1020469	3.5254058	0.6471775	0.0999947	1.763121
2001	0.1479443	0.1042349	3.0760967	0.7330224	0.0999968	1.670038
2002	0.1480148	0.1034164	2.9119530	0.7831559	0.0999964	1.512374
2003	0.1556661	0.1031891	2.9400345	0.7438858	0.0999968	1.563424
2004	0.1589622	0.1032613	2.7016922	0.7393840	0.0999949	1.630977
2005	0.1674196	0.1024819	2.7661240	0.7663345	0.0999965	1.611584
2006	0.1738265	0.1023156	3.1226095	0.7219328	0.0999957	1.587245
2007	0.1822872	0.1028619	2.7279196	0.7328924	0.0999957	1.569075
2008	0.1912350	0.1025257	2.0716366	0.7193227	0.0999959	1.617778
2009	0.2048556	0.1017172	2.0561822	0.7177751	0.0999956	1.573074
2010	0.2145730	0.1021556	1.6404918	0.7249032	0.0999957	1.747712
2011	0.2215015	0.1020475	1.2273957	0.7040881	0.0999959	1.732034
2012	0.2195788	0.1018206	0.6353419	0.6898444	0.0999959	1.667917
2013	0.2179694	0.1017696	0.3880857	0.6984521	0.0999958	1.712009
2014	0.2172097	0.1024340	0.2667967	0.6983397	0.0999959	1.662000
2015	0.2169111	0.1020825	0.2309622	0.6999811	0.0999959	1.615875
2016	0.2175893	0.1025562	0.2039378	0.6760984	0.0999959	1.593616
2017	0.2168429	0.1022060	0.1807385	0.6716662	0.0999958	1.557132
2018	0.2165480	0.1020558	0.1761558	0.6835226	0.0999958	1.619413
2019	0.2202723	0.1018572	0.1750792	0.6837762	0.0999958	1.701180
2020	0.2171164	0.1018965	0.1679975	0.6968883	0.0999959	1.593734
2021	0.2164892	0.1020696	0.1593946	0.7088361	0.0999958	1.599014
2022	0.2156806	0.1024189	0.1558283	0.7375857	0.0999959	1.662479

Carbon Neutrality Public Policy Survey

I feel its important to look at resident opinions regarding topics like this one because while facts and figures are great, aside from corporations with a lot of money, policymakers are the ones who have the ability to ensure shifts in the energy sector.

We can see with these bar plots that age can have a slight impact on public opinion for carbon neutrality, it does not seem to be significant.

Public Policy 2

On the other hand, we can see that along party lines, there is a sharp difference in opinion regarding whether climate change policies will help or harm the economy while in terms of the environment, democrats are more likely to believe these policies will help while republicans feel they will have no impact. Regarding climate change in general, very few survey takers feel that the effects of climate change are not an issue but still almost half of respondants think the policies will be of much help.

Outside Graphic

To end, this graphic from Duke University further explains the United States’ trajectory towards carbon neutrality.