The 2024 Sustainable Energy in America Factbook is the 12th in a series documenting the evolution in energy production, delivery and consumption in the US. The annual report, which BloombergNEF releases in partnership with the Business Council for Sustainable Energy, tracks trends in renewables, efficiency, natural gas, distributed power and storage, and sustainable transportation.
Here are some of the high-level findings from this year’s Sustainable Energy in America Factbook:
Market responses to the IRA
- A record-shattering $303.3 billion in energy transition financing was deployed in the US for clean energy technologies, including renewables, electric vehicles, power grid investment and others.
- By the end of 2023, the number of manufacturing facilities planned in response to the IRA rose to 104, representing $123 billion in announced investments. Battery facilities dominate, with 34 facilities planned.
- 42GW of new renewable power-generating capacity was added to the US grid, primarily driven by robust solar additions. Renewable energy use also set new highs: 8.8% of total US energy demand and 23% of electricity demand.
- The US is the second-largest energy storage market in the world and commissioned an estimated 7.5GW of battery storage capacity in 2023, a new US record. China overtook the US to become the largest storage market in 2023.
- Electric vehicle sales surged 50% to nearly 1.46 million vehicles. The rise in sales was driven by new EV incentives, Tesla’s price cuts and more EV models being released.
- Interest in “clean” US hydrogen is growing. About 437MW of new electrolyzers were shipped in 2023, and plans to add nearly three million metric tons of low carbon hydrogen capacity through the regional hydrogen hubs were announced in 2023. The DOE’s hydrogen hubs program announced the winners selected for funding and are currently in negotiations. This infrastructure is key to enabling hydrogen adoption and use.
- Carbon capture plans are surging: 137Mtpa of new projects are being planned, against an installed base of 23Mtpa in the US in 2023. Most of the new demand for carbon capture and storage (CCS) comes from diverse sectors like ethanol, power generation, ammonia and hydrogen, and chemicals, while current installations are primarily at natural gas processing facilities.
- Renewable diesel and jet fuel supply rose 52.8%and 81.2% year-on-year, respectively. Globally, airlines signed a total of 36 agreements to procure sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) from January to early December 2023. To date, US-based airlines lead SAF procurement, which likely stems from government incentives such as investment tax credits under the IRA for SAF producers.
Energy trends and updates
- US CO2 emissions were 1.8% lower in 2023 than in 2022, BloombergNEF estimates: Transport remained the top-emitting sector with industry second and power third.
- US “energy productivity” set a new record in 2023 as economic growth outpaced energy consumption and grew 3.8% year-on-year. The trend is even starker over the past 10 years, where GDP has grown by 25.5% while primary energy consumption has decreased 4%. Theresult: a 30.6% increase in productivity.
- Total US energy consumption fell 1.4%year-on-year, ending the rebounding after the Covid-19 pandemic and returning to trends of lower energy consumption. A warmer-than-normal winter also resulted in less fuel consumed for building heat.
- Energy spending accounted for 4.2% of total US personal consumption expenditures in 2023, down 0.6 percentage points from 2022as the cost of motor fuel fell, along with slight drops in the price of natural gas and electricity.
- Inflation and higher interest rates boosted levelized costs of electricity (LCOEs) for renewable energy technologies in 2023, but natural gas plants saw costs fall as the underlying price of the fuel fell year-on-year.
- Demand for US natural gas rose 4.3% to reach 99.9 billion cubic feet per day. The jump was led by stronger power sector demand and rising LNG exports, which offset modest declines across industrial, commercial and residential sectors.
- Corporations buying clean power slowed their activity in 2023, signing up to buy 17.1GW zero-carbon power compared with a record20GW in 2022. The number of deals signed fell to less than 100 as the prices of power purchase agreements jumped in response to inflationary pressures.
- Only one new US company joined the RE100, pledging to offset their power consumption with clean power at a future date, reflecting the growth of broader net zero targets and the fact that the largest players in the market have already committed to the alliance
- A record number of extreme weather events hit the US in 2023, with 28 events recorded. This cost the US $92.9 billion in damages –although this was less than seen in 2022, when a smaller number of events caused more monetary damage.
- Coal’s contribution to power generation slid to 15.8% in 2023, its lowest level ever. It was largely replaced by natural gas, which met 43% of US power demand with a record estimated output of 1,809 terawatt-hours (TWh), up 6.5% from the year prior.
- Energy efficiency spending stabilized in 2021 (the last year with complete data). Utility spending on power and natural gas improvements rose 1% year-on-year to reach $7.7 billion.
These trends are discussed in far greater depth, and with graphic illustrations, in the Factbook itself.