Current and Future Energy Sources of the USA
US Energy Supply and Demand
When focusing on the energy supply and demand, it can be helpful to see where the energy is going. Below is a sankey diagram showing the total amount of energy consumed in the US and where it is going. Where does most of our energy go? Does this surprise you to see over 65% of our energy is rejected in the form of waste?
The image is a Sankey diagram illustrating the estimated U.S. energy consumption in 2023, totaling 93.6 quadrillion BTUs (Quads). It shows the flow of energy from various sources to different sectors and highlights the amount of energy that is ultimately rejected or used. Energy sources are color-coded and include solar (yellow, 0.89 Quads), nuclear (red, 8.1 Quads), hydro (blue, 0.82 Quads), wind (purple, 1.5 Quads), geothermal (brown, 0.12 Quads), natural gas (light blue, 33.4 Quads), coal (gray, 8.17 Quads), biomass (light green, 5 Quads), and petroleum (dark green, 35.4 Quads). The energy flows into categories such as electricity generation (orange, 32 Quads), residential (pink, 11.3 Quads), commercial (pink, 9.3 Quads), industrial (pink, 26.1 Quads), and transportation (dark green, 28 Quads). Finally, the diagram shows rejected energy (gray, 61.5 Quads) and energy services (gray, 32.1 Quads). The logo of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is in the top right corner.
Source: LLNL October, 2024. Data is based on DOE/EIA SEDS (2024). If this information or a reproduction of it is used, credit must be given to the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and the Department of Energy, under whose auspices the work was performed. Distributed electricity represents only retail electricity sales and does not include self-generation. EIA reports consumption of renewable resources (i.e., hydro, wind, geothermal and solar) for electricity in BTU-equivalent values by assuming a typical fossil fuel plant heat rate. The efficiency of electricity production is calculated as the total retail electricity delivered divided by the primary energy input into electricity generation. End use efficiency is estimated as 65% for the residential sector, 65% for the commercial sector, 49% for the industrial sector, and 21% for the transportation sector. Totals may not equal sum of components due to independent rounding. LLNL-MI-410527
Globally, many interesting transitions are occurring. While the U.S. was once the top consumer of energy, China claimed this title in 2009.
| Country | Consumption in Exajoules |
|---|---|
| China | 159 |
| U.S. | 95.9 |
| India | 36.4 |
| Russia | 28.9 |
Fossil Fuels
Fossil Fuels still remain a major component of energy use in the US. As shown in the figure above, over 80% of US energy use is produced from fossil fuels. The three fossil fuels are coal, oil and natural gas.
As a result of innovations in oil and gas extraction, U.S. imports have dropped considerably. While the US still consumes a lot of oil for transportation, a lot more oil has been discovered and produced domestically.
The image is a line graph titled "U.S. energy net imports by major source, 1950-2023," measured in quadrillion British thermal units. The horizontal axis represents the years from 1950 to 2023, while the vertical axis measures energy quantities ranging from -10 to 25 quadrillion British thermal units. There are four colored lines, each representing a different energy source. The brown line shows crude oil imports, peaking around 2005 at over 15 units before declining to approximately 2 units by 2023. The maroon line indicates petroleum products, with fluctuations around 5 to 10 units until it declines to negative values in recent years. The blue line for natural gas remains relatively stable from the 1970s, eventually dipping below zero after 2000. The black line represents coal and coal coke, consistently near zero, slightly fluctuating around the mid-20th century. Each energy source is identified with corresponding colors in the legend below the graph. At the bottom left, the "eia" logo is visible, along with a text box citing the data source.
Looking at the U.S. Energy Profile, It can be seen from the imports profile that the US Crude oil imports have significantly reduced between 2005 and 2019 from a peak of 25 Quadrillion BTUs. Another significant change that can be noted is that the US is now exporting natural gas (below zero on the y axis) instead of importing it. Although crude oil is imported, US exports finished petroleum products resulting in less net imports. As a matter of fact, US total energy exports exceeded the imports in 2019 since 1950.
The top five countries (sources) of US total petroleum in 2019 were Canada (49%), Mexico (7%), Saudi Arabia (6%), Russia (6%) and Columbia (4%).
The U.S. also ranks:
- first in worldwide reserves of coal;
- sixth in worldwide reserves of natural gas;
- eleventh in worldwide reserves of oil.
US Energy Consumption by Source and the chart of the US Energy consumption by source and user sector shows each energy source and the amount of energy it supplies in British thermal units (BTU). Petroleum is the leading source of energy in the US in 2019 with 36.72 quadrillion BTUs. Next is natural gas with 32.10 quadrillion BTUs. Coal supplies 11.31 quadrillion BTUs of energy. Renewable energy and nuclear power are responsible for 11.46 and 8.46 quadrillion BTUs respectively. Of the total petroleum consumption, 72% is used for transportation and another 23% is used by the industrial sector. Similarly, 35% of the natural gas (largest fraction) is used for power generation. On the other hand, 76% of the residential and commercial energy needs are met by natural gas. The actual percentages are not required to be memorized but answers to the questions such as: Which fuel is most used by power plants for power generation? Which sector uses petroleum the most? Approximately what fraction of the electricity is generated by renewable energy? (10, 25, 50 or 90) What is the primary purpose of coal use? etc. need to be answered.
US Energy Consumption by Source and Sector
The graph shows how dependent the U.S. is on our petroleum supply, as it accounts for almost 37% of our energy. Our next two highest sources of energy, like petroleum, are non-renewable and include natural gas and coal. Only about 11% of our energy comes from renewable energy sources such as wood and water (hydroelectricity). According to Energy Information Administration, US renewable energy consumption surpassed coal for the first time in over 130 years in 2019. Of the 4.12 trillion kWh of electricity generated in the US, 38% was from natural gas, coal accounted for about 23% and nuclear adding another 20%. Renewable sources contributed to 17% of the total electricity generated.
The flow diagram illustrates the U.S. energy consumption by source and sector for the year 2024, measured in quadrillion British thermal units (Btu). On the left, the energy sources are listed with corresponding percentages: petroleum (35.3, 38%), natural gas (34.2, 36%), renewable energy (8.6, 9%), nuclear (8.2, 9%), and coal (7.9, 8%), totaling 94.2 quadrillion Btu. The lines connect these sources to various end-use sectors on the right: transportation (28.1, 38%), industrial (26.1, 35%), residential (11.2, 15%), and commercial (9.5, 13%) with a total of 74.9 quadrillion Btu. In the center, a section is dedicated to the electric power sector, splitting into electricity sales (13.5, 41%) and energy losses (19.3, 59%), with a total of 32.8 quadrillion Btu. Different colored lines represent energy flow from each source to sectors, indicating the percentage allocation.
In 2023, fossil fuels made up 84% of total U.S. energy consumption, the lowest fossil fuel share. The greatest growth in renewables over the past decade has been in solar and wind electricity generation. Liquid biofuels have also increased in recent years, contributing to the growing renewable share of total energy consumption. 2020 was the first year that renewables surpassed coal consumption in the U.S.
US Energy Consumption Over Time
The image is a line graph displaying energy consumption trends in the United States from 1950 to 2024, measured in quadrillion British thermal units (Btu). The horizontal axis represents years from 1950 to 2024, while the vertical axis represents energy consumption in quadrillion Btu, ranging from 0 to 50. Five colored lines represent different energy sources. The green line indicates petroleum consumption peaking around 40 quadrillion Btu in the early 2000s. The brown line, representing natural gas consumption, steadily rises, nearly intersecting petroleum consumption in 2020 and again in 2024. The blue line shows coal consumption, peaking around 1990 but sharply declining thereafter. The red line, depicting total renewable energy consumption, shows a gradual increase. The yellow line, representing nuclear electric power, rises sharply around 1970 and stabilizes. A legend at the bottom specifies the color coding for each energy type.
The most significant decline in recent years has been coal: US energy consumption from coal was at a high of 37% in 1950 to only 9% in 2023. Biomass, which includes wood as well as liquid biofuels like ethanol and biodiesel, remain relatively flat, as wood use declines and biofuel use increases slightly. In contrast, wind and solar are among the fastest-growing energy sources [5] in the projection, ultimately surpassing biomass and nuclear.
US Energy Consumption History
The plot of US energy consumption shows the relative amounts of each type of energy that was consumed for each year. The history of the energy consumption profile of the United States indicates that petroleum makes the largest part of the energy demand over the past seven decades. Natural gas has taken the second over the past decade with the production of gas from shale. Coal has been replaced by renewable energy and natural gas for electricity generation. Among the renewable energy sources, biomass has the larger share followed by wind energy. Wind energy and solar energy are the fastest growing energy sources.
Answers to the following questions need to be looked for in the material presented above.
- Of all the renewable energy sources, which renewable source is used most?
- Which of the renewable sources is used most for transportation?
- Approximately what fraction of the electricity is generated by nuclear energy? (10, 20, 50 or 90)
Electricity
Electricity demand is expected to grow in the future. Visit the webpage US electricity explained - Sources and profiles [7]
Examine for:
- Sources of U.S. electricity generation
- What are the notable changes in the major sources for electricity generation between 1950 and today?
- Role of renewable energy in the electricity generation.
Growth in electricity use for in the residential and commercial sectors is partially offset by improved efficiency. However, increases in demand from electric cars and data centers are causing a expected increase in electric demand. In 2023, Fossil Fuels accounted for 60% of US electricity generation, with natural gas accounting for most of that.
Most capacity additions over the next 10 years are expected to be renewables.
Did You Know?
Demand-side management programs address efficiency. By being more efficient, we can do more with less, and then reduce the demand for energy. This can include changing the time when higher use items are used, like dishwashers and EV charging to times when the demand on the grid is less.