Highlight
- Renewable energy107 is the fastest-growing fuel source for both electricity and non-electricity consumption—growing 45.5 percent and 89.3 percent, respectively, from 2008 to 2018. Renewable energy’s share of energy consumption increased from 8.4 percent in 2008 to 14.7 percent in 2018, while fossil fuel’s shares declined from 75.4 percent to 71.9 percent during the same period. While natural gas (28.1% of total energy consumed) is the second-largest source after petroleum, total consumption has declined by 8.3 percent from 2014 to 2018; which has been mostly displaced by renewable energy.
107 This includes biodiesel and fuel ethanol as well as non-RPS eligible sources such as conventional hydroelectric. The State Energy Data Systems (SEDS) does not distinguish conventional hydroelectric from small hydro.
Challenge
- Fossil fuels still make up most of California’s energy consumption (71.9%); most of the fossil fuels consumed are from petroleum excluding fuel ethanol (43.4% of total energy consumed) and natural gas. In addition, after years of declining energy consumption, it has gradually increased since 2014, mostly due to an increase in petroleum excluding fuel ethanol non-electricity consumption.
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Energy Efficiency
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