Renewable energy consumption increased by about 8 percent between 2008 and 2009, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. In 2009, electricity from renewable resources contributed about 8 percent of the country’s total energy demand and 10 percent of the country’s total electricity generation.

The United States has fallen to second place behind China in total renewable energy consumption due to China’s recent massive additions of hydroelectric production.

However, the U.S. consumes the most renewable energy from sources other than hydropower, twice as much as Germany and more than three times as much as Spain, according to the EIA’s Annual Energy Outlook 2010.