Dive Brief:
2021 was a landmark year for renewable energy in the U.S., with a record-breaking $105 billion private investment in clean energy technologies and electric vehicles, according to a report released Thursday by BloombergNEF (BNEF) and the Business Council for Sustainable Energy (BCSE).
Total U.S. investments last year included over 8 GW of announced hydrogen-compatible power turbines, positioning the U.S. to be a hydrogen industry leader in the next decade. In 2021, developers also built 37 GW of wind and solar capacity, while year-to-year sales for electric vehicles doubled from 2020.
However, some reports show the pace of renewable energy growth in the U.S. is not enough to surpass natural gas anytime soon. “Though renewable sources grow faster, there is still a large established base of fossil fuel use that we…