By 2020, the share of coal power in the US electricity market structure will fall to 24%;

In the coming years, the boom in solar and wind energy in the United States will bring a new blow
to the coal industry.
According to a report released Friday by the U.
S.
Department of Energy, renewable energy, led by solar and wind, is expected to be the fastest-growing U.
S.
power generation energy source
for at least the next two years.

Utility-scale solar power is expected to grow 10 percent in 2019 and 17 percent
in 2020, driven by rapidly falling prices, the Energy Information Administration said.
Over the same period, wind power generation is expected to grow by 12% and 14%, respectively, while coal, the king of the power industry, continues to decline
rapidly.

According to EIA, the share of total electricity generation generated by coal-fired power plants fell to 28 percent last year, compared with 45 percent
in 2010.
By 2020, coal's market share is expected to decline to 24%.

U.
S
.
coal consumption fell about 4 percent in 2018, to its lowest level since 1979.

"Coal is just an expensive technology that can't compete anymore," said
Kingsmill Bond, a new energy strategist at Carbon Tracker.

This is despite President Donald Trump's promise to revive the struggling coal industry
.
Last month, the Trump administration announced plans to reverse Obama-era coal emissions rules to make it easier to open new plants
.

But in addition to environmental regulations, coal is also subject
to stiff competition for clean energy, especially natural gas.
Thanks to the shale revolution, the United States has a lot of cheap natural gas
.
In 2016, natural gas overtook coal as the nation's primary fuel source
for the first time.

According to EIA, natural gas' share of the U.
S.
electricity market is expected to increase from 35 percent in 2018 to 37 percent
in 2020.
Renewables other than hydropower are expected to grow from 10% in 2018 to 13%
in 2020.

Due to the economy and concerns about climate change, power plants will continue to move away from coal
.
The EIA has previously said 2018 could be the second-largest year
for coal plant retirements.
For example, Xcel Energy (XEL), which serves western and Midwestern states, announced last month plans to provide 100 percent carbon-free electricity
by 2050.
Xcel wants to double its wind power while cutting its reliance
on coal.

Homes and businesses are also installing their own solar panels to reduce their carbon footprint
.
The EIA said small-scale solar power generation is expected to soar 44 percent over the next two years
.

At the same time, large companies are increasingly looking to buy more clean energy
.
For example, Enel Green Power North America struck deals last year to supply wind power to Bloomberg, General Motors (GM), Facebook (FB) and Adobe (ADBE
).
Earlier this month, Enel, part of Italian energy giant Enel Group, announced plans to build a $600 million wind farm
in Texas.
By replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy, Enel says wind farms can reduce emissions by more than 1.
1 million tonnes of CO2
per year.