Infographic


Hydropower is probably the most invisible of the generation sources in the US. It does not have a smokestack, is defined by its reliability and creates none of the emissions that hamper expansions at traditional fossil-fueled generators.

And although in the American mind hydropower is defined by enormous projects like the Hoover Dam, much of the hydropower in the US is actually much smaller in scale, making debates over wild species migration and the filling of valleys applicable only to a much smaller number of projects. Keep reading →


In its recent International Energy Outlook 2011, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimated that global energy consumption would grow 53% from 2008 to 2035, with about half of that demand coming from rapidly-developing economies like China and India.

This AOL Energy infographic breaks down some of the most relevant numbers, which show electrical generation far exceeding consumption, particularly in non-OECD countries, as natural gas production grows significantly in the United States and nuclear power generation increases significantly in China and India. Keep reading →


For all the discussion of federal incentives for renewable energy and the push, both in the Obama Administration and at regulatory bodies, for policies that can accommodate renewable energy generation, actual implementation remains a very local affair.

Some states are blessed with huge resources, whether hydropower in the Northwestern US, or wind sweeping across Texas plains. Even where resources are plentiful, though, earlier analysis from AOL Energy showed the importance of a conducive regulatory climate as well. See our earlier AOL Energy infographic: At The State Level, The National Energy Future. Keep reading →

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In the last few years, the world has seen a steady increase in renewable energy production and consumption. Key to this increase has been the increased flow of private and government capital to these projects. Keep reading →

The massive floods in the Midwest in the past month have been devastating in many ways, but one thing Midwesterners won’t have to worry about is generating electricity from their coal-fired power plants. Inventories at plants along the river are high, limiting the impact from potential interuptions to barging down the river from coal producing states like West Virginia and Indiana to coal consuming states like Kentucky and Tennessee. Keep reading →

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