The Business Council for Sustainable Energy (BCSE) today released the 2019 edition of the Sustainable Energy in America Factbook.  Their annual Factbook provides updated market intelligence on the various industries driving the nation’s journey towards cleaner and more efficient energy production. This year’s BCSE Factbook highlights the economic growth that the U.S. experienced during 2018 and how the overall national growth effected domestic energy markets.

Due to our growing economy, energy demand, generation, new projects, prices, as well as CO2 emissions all rose during 2018. However, the GDP’s growth over the last decade (22 percent) far outpaced the rise of energy consumption during the same timespan (7 percent), representing more efficient energy operations overall.

The Factbook features insight into longstanding trends that continued in 2018:

• Natural gas boomed
• US energy jobs grew
• Corporates continued to drive demand for sustainable energy
• States continued to lead the charge on clean energy policy-making
• Renewables grew in volume and importance
• Coal’s decline continued
• Energy remained affordable
• The popularity of electric vehicles grew
• Battery storage costs fell further

The 2019 edition of the Factbook also dives into key questions that 2018 raised in the energy sector, and how these questions might be addressed in 2019 and beyond. Two of the main issues covered in the Factbook are:

• Can the U.S improve energy efficiency when economic growth suddenly accelerates?
• Can U.S. CO2 emissions be kept in check without federal policy?

The Factbook reports that U.S. energy consumption in 2018 grew at 3.2 percent, rising above the GDP growth of 2.9 percent. These numbers point to a higher energy consumption associated with GDP growth, marking a potential departure from the trend set by the previous decade’s figures. National carbon emissions rose about 2.1 percent last year, largely due to buildings and industrial sectors.

CRES is an associate member of BCSE and proud sponsor of the 2019 Factbook, which is a great resource for any clean energy advocate. Formed in 1992, BCSE supports policies that foster diverse American energy innovation through affordable and reliable clean energy solutions. We’ve also partnered with them before on other efforts, including National Clean Energy Week.

Take a look at the Factbook today!