Energy & Power supply in the United States is shaped by various abundant natural resources. Renewable energy sources (RES), such as solar and wind, have enjoyed a boom in recent decades, but still only account for a minor share of the US electricity generation mix (17% in 2017). Shale gas is also seeing a boom and setting new production records. Abundant, versatile, and economically attractive, natural gas was the leading electricity generation source in the US in 2017 (32%), ahead of coal (30%) and nuclear (20%). Although renewable energies have already overcome numerous barriers to become competitive with fossil fuels, they still face major obstacles, one of which is the existing ageing grid infrastructure, which is not suited to decentralized power generation.
