Nebraska's Renewable Energy Consumption

In 2010, Nebraska consumed 886.39 trillion British thermal units(Btu) of energy which included 129.72 trillion Btu of energy from renewable energy resources. Renewable resources met 14.6 percent of Nebraska's energy consumption. Nebraska consumed energy from these renewable resources in 2010:

• Biofuels
• Biomass
• Geothermal Energy
• Hydroelectric Power (Conventional)
• Photovoltaic and Solar Thermal Energy
• Wind Energy

Renewable energy consumption was equivalent to 112,000 cords of wood, 1,314 gigawatthours of conventional hydroelectric power, 62,286,000 gallons (or 1.483 million barrels) of ethanol, 98.75 trillion Btu of ethanol production and co–products, 422 gigawatthours of wind energy, 1.15 trillion Btu of geothermal energy, and 50 billion Btu of solar energy.

From 1960 to 1980, renewable energy in Nebraska consisted of conventional hydroelectric power and biomass. Ethanol entered the picture in the early 1980s. Geothermal energy and photovoltaic and solar thermal energy projects were reported in the late 1980s. Wind energy projects came on line in the late 1990s. Consumption of renewable energy has steadily increased.

As a percentage of total energy consumption, renewable energy consumption was relatively stable until 1995 when the percentage began an upward climb. Biofuels had a major role in this increase. Renewable energy consumption has ranged from 2.80 percent to 10.79 percent of total energy consumption. The energy used to produce ethanol and the energy value contained in the dry/wet co–products of ethanol has been added to the annual data.

This report provides the amount of renewable energy used by Nebraskans. The amount of renewable energy that generated electricity can be found in the report Annual Electricity Generation by Fuel Type.