The EIA site has a wealth of data for every major source of energy. Here is an interesting graph of annual coal consumption since 1949:
http://www.eia.gov/beta/MER/index.cfm?tbl=T06.02#/?f=A&start=1949&end=2014&charted=1-5-12-13-14 In 1950 most coal was consumed by industry. Mainly steel production I expect. In 1960 electricity became the largest use, with 0.177 billion tons consumed. Coal used for electricity increased and then peaked in 2007 at 1.045 billion tons. By 2014 it had fallen to 0.851 billion, a decrease of 19%. Most of the decrease has been made up by natural gas, as you see here: http://www.eia.gov/beta/MER/index.cfm?tbl=T07.02A#/?f=A For 2014: This shows Million Kiolowatthours, which for coal does not exactly track tons of coal consumed. Electricity production from coal has fallen by 21%, a little more than the decrease in consumption. Wind now produces 11% as much energy as coal. That is a huge chunk of coal company profits. Both US and Chinese coal companies are in big trouble. In the U.S. three big companies have filed for bankruptcy: PatriotCoal, Walter Energy, and Alpha Natural Resources. The U.S. companies are being hit by a drop in demand in the U.S. and in China. Wind produces 23% as much energy as nuclear power. The U.S. has 99 nukes, so that means wind turbines produce roughly as much as 24 nukes. Here is some recent information on wind energy: http://awea.files.cms-plus.com/FileDownloads/pdfs/3Q2015%20AWEA%20Market%20Report%20Public%20Version.pdf The graph on p. 4 is dramatic. Extrapolating from total nameplate megawatts shown there, 69,471 MW, I get an average capacity factor of around 30%, which is what industry sources usually quote. On some occasions, in some weather, wind turbines produce much more than that. See, for example, several days at an 83% capacity factor in Texas: http://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.cfm?id=23632 In Texas, electricity at night is sometimes so abundant the power company lowers the rate to zero. They give electricity away for nothing, to encourage people to shift usage to night. - Jed
