Data source: World Resources Institute

1. Data on added power plant capacity globally starting from late 19th century.

2. Data grouped by source of energy used to generate power: hydro, coal, nuclear, wind, etc.

3. Only data related to US were selected for this project.

Following code can be used to generate interactive chart displaying added power plant capacity in US over the years:

library(plotly)
pp <- read.csv("global_power_plant_database.csv")
ppa <- pp[, c(1,2,3,5,8,12)]
ppU <- ppa[grep("USA", ppa$country),]
ppU1 <- aggregate(capacity_mw~commissioning_year+fuel1, data=ppU, sum)
ppu2 <- ppU1[grep("Coal|Gas|Hydro|Nuclear|Oil|Solar|Wind", ppU1$fuel1),]
plot_ly(ppu2, x=~round(commissioning_year), y=~capacity_mw, 
        color=~fuel1, type="bar") %>%
  layout(title="Added Power Generation Capacity", xaxis=list(title="Year"), 
         yaxis=list(title="Added Power Generation Capacity (MW)"))

1. Zoom in and out.

2. Autoscale can be done by double clicking on the chart area.

3. Best way to study the chart is to first select single energy categories one by one, and add other(s) later for comparison.

4. Earliest year shown when single category of power source is selected corresponds to the first project related to power generation from this source.

Hydro, coal and nuclear power generation:

1. All energy before 1930s was generated by hydropower with first project dating back to 1896.

2. Added hydro power capacity peaked around 1967. However, small generating capacity was added as late as 2016.

3. Commissioning of new coal power plants peaked around 1978 with nuclear power generation following decade later - around 1988.

4. Last nuclear power generating addition was in 2006, while coal power plants had been brought online regularly until 2015.

Natural gas, oil and alternative energy:

1. Natural gas and oil power generating capacity has been added regularly since 1930s.

2. Gas and oil power plant commissioning peaked in early 2000s with record addition to power generation capacity.

3. First wind power plant was commissioned in 1975. However explosive growth in wind power generating capacity followed almost 30 years later - in mid 2000s.

4. Solar power generation experienced extraordinary growth since 2010 with first power plant launched in 2002.

1. Most energy is produced by burning fossil fuels such as coal, natural gas and oil.

2. Most power generating capacity has been added as coal power plants over the years.

3. Power generation capacity from alternative sources of energy - solar and wind, is comparable to hydro or nuclear power generation and amounts to only 1/3 of that for coal.