In 2016, electrical generation will largely come from renewables, according to the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) Medium-Term Renewable Energy Market Report. Solar and wind will surpass natural gas, doubling nuclear output and coming in second only to coal in power generation.
Global renewable electricity generation is expected to grow from 4,860 terawatt-hours in 2012 to 6,850 terawatt-hours in 2018. In fact, wind generation is expected to double globally, while solar will more than triple from 100 terawatt-hours to 358 terawatt-hours.
“In the U.S., solar capacity is expected to more than quadruple, from 7.7 gigawatts to 31 gigawatts, and wind capacity is expected to nearly double, from 58.8 gigawatts to 93 gigawatts.”