EIA: Coal will be the ‘dominant fuel’ for generating electricity through 2035

Coal will continue to be the “dominant fuel” used to generate electricity in the United States through 2035, according to new projections released Thursday by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) — the statistical arm of the Energy Department.

Though EIA predicts that no new coal plants will be built between now and 2035 — with the exception of those that are under construction or are built as a result of incentives for low-emissions coal — coal will dominate the country’s energy portfolio. The reason? The United States will continue to rely on existing coal-fired power plants to produce its electricity.

The new projections were released Thursday as part of EIA’s early release of data that will be included in its Annual Energy Outlook 2011.

Coal currently generates about 45 percent of the country’s electricity. That number will decrease gradually during the next two decades, to about 43 percent in 2035, EIA predicts. Natural gas and renewables like wind and solar will be the “fastest-growing” fuels used to generate electricity in the coming decades, but they won't come close to surpassing coal.

By 2035, natural gas will be responsible for 25 percent of the country’s electricity, up from 23 percent, and renewables will be responsible for 14 percent of the nation’s electricity, up from 10 percent, EIA predicts.

For more on today’s EIA data, read this post on the country’s expected growth in greenhouse gas emissions.