US Energy Sources and American Use of Energy

Matching American Energy Consumption with Limited Sources of Energy

Sep 29, 2008 Laurence O'Sullivan

Although the US has large sources of energy, mainly fossil fuels, American energy production is dwarfed by energy intensive consumption.

America is the fourth largest producer of oil in the world and also has large reserves of both natural gas and coal, but is the world’s largest importer of oil. The major energy consuming sectors in the US are industrial, transportation, domestic and of course the military.

American Energy Sources

According to the Monthly Energy Review (MER) published by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) of the Dept. of Energy in September 2008, the United States receives its energy from a number of diverse sources.

Oil - As of the end of 2007, the US produces 6.8 million barrels per day (mb/d) of crude oil from its own on-shore and off-shore oil fields. It imports a further 12 million barrels of oil per day.

Natural Gas – America produced 19.3 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of natural gas, while importing a further 4.6 tcf, mostly from Canada. As of the end of 2006, the US had proven reserves of over 211 tcf of natural gas.

Coal – The United States is second only to China in its production of coal, at 1.15 billion tons per year. It has proven reserves of nearly 500 billion tons.

Nuclear Power – Table 8.1 of the MER gives the number of Nuclear power plants in the United States at 104. Energy: Selected Facts and Numbers, by Carol Glover et al, published in August 2008 by the Congressional Research Service states that “Continuation of some construction increased the nuclear share of generation to 20% in 1990, where it remains currently."

Renewable Energy Sources – Table 10.1 of the Annual Energy Review:2007 (AER), published by the EIA shows that renewable sources of energy were responsible for just 7% of energy production, with most of that coming from hydro and wood burning while wind and biofuels made up just over 1% of energy production.

American Energy Consumption

Figures from the “Energy INFOcard” produced by the US EIA, updated in August, 2008, shows that while the US consumed over 25% of the worlds primary energy, it produced only 16% of its own energy. The major sectors that consume this energy are:

Industrial – According to Table 2.1A of the AER, industry, not including the electricity generation services, consumed 32.3 trillion Btus which was 32% of the total US energy use.

Electricity Generation – Table 2.1F of the same publication shows that the generation of electricity used 40 trillion Btu, with coal accounting for 50%, nuclear20%, natural gas 21% and renewable energy, including hydro making up just 8%.

Transport – The “Energy INFOcard” states that transportation uses 29% of US energy and Energy: Selected Facts and Numbers, in its “Petroleum and Transportation” chapter shows that the transport sector used 14.3 million barrels of oil per day, which is over twice the amount of locally produced oil, and is greater than the total US oil imports.

Commercial and Residential – Tables 2.1 A, B, C and D show that the commercial and residential sectors each use 19% of US energy production, made up largely of electricity and natural gas sources.

Military – According to Department of Defense Energy Strategy Teaching an Old Dog New Tricks, by Gregory J. Lengyel, published by “The Brookings Institution”, Washington D.C. in August 2007, “As the single largest consumer of energy in the United States, the DOD uses 4.6 billion gallons of fuel annually, or an average of 12.6 million gallons of fuel per day.”

America’s disproportionate use of energy, combined with largely fossil fuel based sources of energy and low use of renewable energies, has negative environmental impacts and will make it difficult to cut down on CO2 emissions.

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