America's Favorite Renewable Energy Exposed

America’s Favorite Renewable Energy Exposed

Posted on Jan 19, 2014 in Energy Efficiency by Matthew Speer 0 Comments

Clean energy is at the core of a sustainable lifestyle and is critical to help curb the effects of global warming. With renewable energy accounting for less than 20% of America’s total energy production, we have a lot of room for improvement. In order for us to achieve mass adoption of these energy sources we must answer the question, “which renewable energy source is most favorable?” It is this question that led us create an exclusive iSustainableEarth online poll to find the answer. The results are in and the finding provide a clear path to America’s favorite renewable energy source.

Finding America’s Favorite Renewable Energy

The exclusive online poll achieved 281 unique votes and asked iSustainableEarth’s readers, “what is your favorite type of renewable energy?” The potential responses were randomized and included all the major types of renewable energy in America, which are wind energy, solar energy, geothermal energy, hydropower, bioenergy, ocean energy and hydrogen & fuel cells. We recently closed the poll and the results are in, we now know what America’s favorite renewable energy is and how that correlates to its percent of total renewable energy in the U.S.

As renewable energy continues to gain a foothold in the U.S., many Americans may not endorse or favor certain types of renewable energy sources. By locating the sources that resonate with the population, it may be possible to gain further adoption by placing our efforts around the more popular energy sources. Thus, without further delay, let’s uncover America’s favorite renewable energy source.

The Results: America’s Top Renewable Energy Source

The readers have spoken and have allowed the world know which renewable energy source America favors. The results are surprising in some sense and expected on the other hand. The results are as follows:

Bioenergy: One of he oldest form of energy production came in last place, with only 5 percent of the total vote. This wasn’t much of a surprise as many may not consider this a “clean” choice since it almost always involves some form of burning to generate energy.
Hydropower: Coming in second to last place with 7 percent of the total vote, hydropower isn’t as popular as we expected. With the Hoover dam and other landmarks driving home this renewable source, we expected a better showing from this energy production method. It is also the most prevalent renewable energy source in America, with 6.9% of total U.S. energy production coming from this source.
Hydrogen & Fuel Cells: Coming in at 5th place, the hydrogen and fuel cells edged out more common renewable sources. Often associated to hybrid vehicles, this energy source is gaining a little ground in popularity.
Geothermal Energy: At 4th place, geothermal energy had a stronger showing than our team expected. With 8 percent of the total vote, it just edged out hydropower and fuel cells. Geothermal energy has been around since the formation of the earth, yet this free and renewable energy is often overlooked and misunderstood. Want to learn more about geothermal energy, check out our previous geothermal energy article.
Ocean Energy: Our coastal residents would be pleased to find that ocean energy took 3rd place based on the overall votes. Oceans cover more than 70% of the planet and harnessing just a small amount of the ocean’s energy could power the world.
Wind Energy: The second most popular renewable energy blows the competition away. With wind turbines sprouting up across the plain states it is no wonder that it commanded 37 percent of the total votes. Far exceeding any previous renewable energy source in our online poll.
Solar Energy: It is now quite clear that America’s favorite renewable energy source is solar energy. With 48 percent of the vote, there was a wide margin between second and first place. With over 99 percent of the energy our sun provides going to waste, we have a lot of room to grow in capturing this clean energy. Check out these solar power facts.

Adoption of America’s Favorite Renewable Energy Sources:

Identifying our favorite renewable energy is just one step in moving us closer to a cleaner and greener future. As Americans continue to embrace sustainable living, the openness to adopt a cleaner energy grows. With solar energy being America’s favorite renewable energy, imagine the impact we could have if every home had just one solar panel on the roof.

As noted in one of our previous articles, the planet receives around 1,366 watts of direct solar radiation per square meter, it is estimated that we would only need about 6.4 percent of the total landmass in the United States to power the entire planet. We just need the world to wake up and want to take advantage of the free and renewable energy our sun produces each day.