Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory on Monday released a report explaining that energy use in the United States declined last year, and the role of renewable energy in our production mix is increasing. We’ve highlighted some major points from the technical report. To start, take a look at this helpful (but complex!) diagram on how we produce and use energy:

The chart Lawrence Livermore created shows the different energy sources used in production (left), and the end uses of that energy (pink boxes on the right). The grey lines leading to the top right corner illustrate energy that was lost, usually in the form of heat. From the chart and the report, there are three things to note:

1. The role of renewable energy, especially wind, is increasing dramatically. LLNL Analyst A.J. Simon, as quoted in Renewable Energy World, stated that the increase is “a result of very good incentives and technological advancements. In 2009, the technology got better and the incentives remained relatively stable. The investments put in place for wind in previous years came online in 2009. Even better, there are more projects in the pipeline for 2010 and beyond.” The lesson here? When incentives are stable and attractive, renewable energy capacity grows, even if it takes a year or so to get projects in place. Solar, too, saw an increase — though a less dramatic one than the wind industry witnessed.

2. Coal use decreased. With a fuel shift to natural gas, increased wind power, and an overall lower electricity demand, coal use is shrinking. From an environmental perspective, that’s the best energy news we could possible hear.

3. Lower energy use, in general, is tied to scaled-back economic activity. The recession played a significant role in creating the trends we see here. Major changes in energy use don’t happen overnight. However, increased adoption of energy efficient appliances has also helped cut energy use for the long run.