Renewable energy from wind, water, sun, and organic material has become increasingly popular in the United States over the past several years. The reasons for this include increased environmental awareness on the part of governments and electricity users, and reforms of the electricity market that are beginning to allow electricity users to choose green energy.
Historically, the U.S. has always used hydropower as an important part of its energy resources. Large dams, particularly in the western part of the U.S., generate billions of kilowatt-hours of electricity as well as providing important benefits such as water supply, irrigation, flood control, and recreation. These dams were built earlier in the 20th century and are owned and operated primarily by the U.S. government.
Beginning in the 1980s, the U.S. turned to private developers to build both large gas-fired power plants and small renewable power plants. These developers, or "Independent Power Producers (IPPs)," built hundreds of small hydro plants, wind farms, biomass and biogas plants, and geothermal plants.
In recent years, there has been a renewal of interest in renewable energy. Governments in many states of the U.S., as well as the federal government, have begun programs to encourage more renewables by providing financial support, tax credits, and Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) requirements. These programs have been especially helpful for the windpower industry: in 2001, the U.S. installed 1700 MW of new windpower capacity, which was almost 60 percent more than the total of windpower installed up until that year. A new generation of developers is studying the potential for small hydro, biomass, biogas, and geothermal as well.
Renewable energy from wind, water, sun, and organic material has become increasingly popular in the United States over the past several years. The reasons for this include increased environmental awareness on the part of governments and electricity users, and reforms of the electricity market that are beginning to allow electricity users to choose green energy.
