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The 2020 Factbook showcases the impact of sustainable energy over the last decade and highlights findings for 2019 that follow the macro trends of the 2010s: • Renewable energy became the cheapest new generation source in many U.S. power markets. The U.S. has over 2 times more renewable power generating capacity today than a decade ago. Solar capacity in 2019 was 80 times greater than what it was at the end of 2009. • Energy efficiency choices have proliferated, with federal programs helping high-efficiency appliances reach mass markets and state codes bolstering building efficiency. The economy grew every year in the past decade and energy use fell in five of the ten years. U.S. energy productivity (GDP/energy consumption) improved 18% between 2010 and 2019, benefiting businesses and households. • Natural gas became the primary source of U.S. power generation and shifted the scales in the global market. Between 2010 and 2019 domestic natural gas production jumped 50%, and natural gas went from providing 24% of the nation's electricity to 38%. The U.S. increased its export capacity to exceed its import capacity, building stronger trade relationships around the world. In 2019, the U.S. exported more gas than it imported.

Following one of the worst years in economic history, signs of hope have begun to emerge for the clean-tech sector, with clean energy becoming a driving force for global economic recovery from Beijing to Seoul, and Washington D.C. to Brussels. In 2009, combined global revenue for the three major clean-energy sectors – solar photovoltaics (PV), wind power, and biofuels – grew by 11.4 percent over 2008, reaching $139.1 billion. These three sectors are expected to reach $325.9 billion by 2019, according to the Clean Energy Trends 2010 report issued today by Clean Edge Inc., a research and publishing firm devoted to the clean-tech sector.

Wood Mackenzie expects 350 megawatts of floating offshore wind in operation by 2022 at various demonstration projects, and up to 10 gigawatts by 2030 with the right policy frameworks in place. Europe currently has a total of less than 50 megawatts of floating wind installed.

Researchers at the Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology (LUT) in Finland and Energy Watch Group (EWG) have completed a 4½ year study that examined how to meet the goals of the Paris climate accords without such measures as carbon capture and geoengineering. Their conclusion? Run everything on electricity and generate all of that electricity using renewables, primarily solar.

With 2020 just over the horizon, WRI’s 2020 NDC tracker reveals that 68 countries have indicated they will enhance the ambition or action of their NDCs next year -- but they represent only 8% of global emissions.