United States' energy consumption

Official Name: United States of America

Summary: The United States, one of the globe’s largest producers and consumers of energy, uses a variety of sources to meet its needs, including nuclear and coal power plants, oil, natural gas, and alternative sources.

The United States is a democratic republic located on the North American continent. The United States is comprised of fifty states and a federal district, Washington, DC, which contains its capital. A total of forty-eight states are located contiguously in central North America and are bordered to the north by Canada, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the south by the Gulf of Mexico and Mexico, and to the west by the Pacific Ocean. Alaska, which is in the far northwest of North America, borders Canada, the Arctic Circle, and the Bering Strait, while Hawaii is located in the center of the Pacific. Covering almost 3.8 million square miles and home to more than 342 million people, the United States is the globe’s third-largest nation in terms of both population and area.

The United States’ economy is one of the world’s largest, totaling more than 25 percent of global gross domestic product (GDP) in 2023. That year, the United States’ GDP was estimated at $24.992 trillion. As a major industrial power, the United States is the world’s second-largest energy consumer, trailing only China. Although the United States possesses extensive energy resources, its great rate of usage requires it to import oil and natural gas to meet its needs.

Coal

During the colonial era, prior to the founding of the United States in 1776, wood was used frequently as a primary source of energy. Whale oil was also a popular source of energy, especially important for lamps. While European colonists who settled in North America were familiar with using coal as a source of energy, the plentiful nature of whale oil and wood made these the popular and conventional choices. Only when wood became depleted during the seventeenth century did colonists begin to explore coal as a source of energy. As late as 1740, Richmond, Virginia, served as the only commercial coal field in colonial America. As forests and other sources of wood diminished, Richmond’s bituminous coal production expanded and dominated the intercoastal trade between 1790 and 1830. After the 1790s, however, coal was discovered in Pennsylvania. Anthracite coal, which was chiefly found in Pennsylvania, was a much harder coal, and more difficult to ignite, than the bituminous coal found in Richmond. Anthracite’s greater density and quality permitted it to burn longer and to provide more energy than other types of coal. The intense heat that anthracite produced required the development of a special grate that permitted a draft from below.

Pennsylvania’s coal was located closer to the busy mid-Atlantic markets and was of a higher quality than the Richmond coal. Although anthracite was acknowledged as superior to other types of coal, a lack of cheap transportation during the 1820s delayed its commercial growth. With the spread of railroads, however, anthracite became available across the United States beginning in the 1830s. This made it harder for Richmond to compete. Before 1830, the inability to easily transport Pennsylvania’s anthracite led to the development of newer bituminous coal fields in places such as Maryland. Maryland’s location near multiple rivers made it easier to export coal. With the establishment of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in Cumberland, Maryland, helped expand the exportation of coal across the Appalachians.

The growth of the United States as an industrial power was coupled with the westward expansion of the nation, leading to new factories and railroads. The massive iron and steel works that evolved during this time were especially in need of high-quality anthracite to fuel their operations. Railroads also preferred anthracite, because its compact nature required less space to transport and its density permitted it to burn longer. This demand for coal is documented by the number of miners present in the United States. In 1840, 6,811 mine workers were documented by the census. In the years that followed, this number grew exponentially, as more workers were needed to meet the increasing demand for coal. By 1870, more than half of the miners working in the United States were born outside the country. Many of these immigrants were English, Welsh, or Irish, in part because of the previous experience these workers had with British coal mines. Throughout the nineteenth century, mining became an important source of income for many American families and communities. By 1920 more than 650,000 individuals were working as miners, with many more working in ancillary jobs that supported mine operations.

By the 1920s, coal accounted for 75 percent of energy used in the United States. Increasing industrial demand necessitated increased coal production, something that was facilitated when large deposits of coal were found in many parts of the United States, including Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, New Mexico, Texas, and West Virginia. New, more efficient industrial processes relied upon coal for energy. Such inventions as the cotton gin could be run much more efficiently on coal-generated power than by wood or other sources of energy. Coal was the leading source of energy in the United States between 1885 and 1950. As of 2023, approximately 16 percent of the electricity generated in the United States came from coal-powered generating plants, following natural gas (43 percent and nuclear 18.6). Approximately 675 million short tons of coal were burned in the United State in 2023, down from 798 million short tons in 2015. More than 90 percent of coal mined in the United States is used domestically by the electrical power industry. Due to concerns about air pollution and climate change and the falling costs of natural gas and renewable energy, the United States has cut down the usage of coal energy production.

As concerns about global warming have grown, opposition to the use of coal has also developed. Former vice president Al Gore, who won a Nobel Peace Prize for his environmental activism, publicly opposed the use of coal-generated power plants and advocated for more alternative sources of energy. New regulations have made the construction of new coal-powered power plants more expensive and have resulted in public relations campaigns paid for by coal producers and utility companies. Such campaigns have asserted that it is possible to produce “clean coal” that alleviates environmental concerns. While “clean coal” can refer to a variety of processes, it generally refers to carbon capture and storage (CCS). CCS is technology that attempts to prevent the release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere through power generation. CCS captures carbon dioxide, moves it away from the generator, and finally pumps it into underground geologic formations, which will permanently keep it away from Earth’s atmosphere. CCS is costly, as even its proponents admit that the process will increase power used by 10 to 40 percent. Critics of CCS argue that the process increases the expenditure of fuel needed for extraction so significantly as to diminish or eliminate the benefits of the process. Additionally, uncertainty regarding the effects of possible leakage of the carbon dioxide stored underground has caused many environmentalists to oppose CCS. Despite these concerns, the administration of President Barack Obama authorized the expenditure of $3.4 billion for CCS pilot projects as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Without the development of clean coal programs, it is likely that the use of coal for power generation will continue to decline in the future as concerns about the environment and greenhouse gases grow. Following the election of President Donald Trump—an avowed supporter of the coal industry, the Trump administration called for a review of the Obama-era Clean Power Plan and announced plans to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement, both of which aimed to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from US plants. However, President Joe Biden reversed his decisions, allotting $444 million to strengthen CCS infrastructure and rejoining the Paris Agreement. However, despite these measures to ease pressure of the coal industry, energy experts contend that the falling prices of natural gas and renewable sources of energy will further the decline of coal in the United States.

Petroleum

During the colonial era, wood was the primary source of energy for heating and industry, while whales were killed and rendered for lamp oil. As the nineteenth century dawned, coal became more common in the United States, and was relied upon for transport, heating, and industry, with natural gas and fractionated coal gas used for lighting. Until the latter half of the late 1800s, petroleum was not available in large quantities, and when obtainable it was used chiefly as an ingredient in patent medicines and to grease wagons. This changed after the 1840s, when Scot James Young devised a way to distill kerosene from petroleum, which could be used for lighting. Petroleum remained scarce in the United States, as the majority used came from “oil springs” that allowed petroleum to bubble to the surface. This changed on August 27, 1859, however, when petroleum was discovered after a crew looking for a more reliable source of oil drilled sixty-nine feet in the ground of northwest Pennsylvania near the town of Titusville. This first oil well was known as the Drake Well, named for Edwin L. Drake, who had been hired by the Seneca Oil Company to investigate suspected petroleum deposits in Pennsylvania. Drake obtained leases for the standard technique of drilling petroleum. After Drake’s original discovery, the towns around Titusville boomed as entrepreneurs like John D. Rockefeller began organizing companies to find and refine petroleum. The demand for kerosene, which grew as whales grew scarcer and their oil more expensive, drove the demand for petroleum for much of the nineteenth century. The invention of the internal combustion engine in the early twentieth century exacerbated this demand, creating a highly profitable market for petroleum that has continued to the present day.

Rockefeller was perhaps the most significant figure of the American oil industry. Early oil pipelines, necessary for the transportation of petroleum, were soon controlled by Rockefeller’s Standard Oil Company. The discovery of oil fields in California, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Texas soon provided a plentiful supply of petroleum for the American market. Oil fields were linked to eastern cities by rail and boats. Philadelphia, New York, and Baltimore became the major centers for the exporting and trading of petroleum for Standard Oil. Exporting petroleum to Europe was so significant that the export taxes were enough to pay the interest of US bonds in 1866. Standard Oil controlled 88 percent of all refined petroleum in the United States by 1890. In 1890, the US Justice Department sued Standard Oil, alleging that it was engaged in sustaining a monopoly and restraining interstate commerce in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890. The Justice Department argued that Standard Oil’s control of oil pipelines, the favorable transport fees it was able to bully railroads into providing, and its practices in the sale of refined petroleum combined to hurt the interests of consumers. In 1911, the US Supreme Court, in Standard Oil Company of New Jersey v. United States, 221 U. S. 1 (1911), upheld a lower court’s determination that Standard Oil monopolized the petroleum industry through a series of anticompetitive and abusive business practices. As a result, the Supreme Court ordered Standard Oil’s breakup into multiple separate and competing firms.

The United States is the world’s largest consumer of petroleum, using about 20.246 million barrels per day as of 2023. The United States is also the largest producer of petroleum, trailed by Saudi Arabia, Russia, and China, with American wells producing over 20.879 million barrels per day in 2023, which constituted roughly 20 percent of the world’s production.

The spike in oil prices caused by the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) oil embargo in 1973-1974 caused many in the United States to consider alternative sources of energy for the first time. Higher oil prices also spurred exploration for new sources of petroleum, including the expansion or discovery of sources in Alaska and the North Sea. The oil embargo also had severe effects on the automobile industry, as most American manufacturers had concentrated on large models that were not fuel efficient. After the oil embargo, those car companies that were more adept at building fuel-efficient automobiles, such as those in Germany and Japan, were able to greatly increase their share of the American market. The US Department of Transportation implemented guidelines that called for more fuel-efficient automobiles, changes that greatly increased the average miles per gallon (MPG) that each car was able to attain. Despite these changes, today about 98 percent of automotive energy needs are met by petroleum, although it is hoped that alternative energy sources will reduce this amount. In 2021, motor gasoline consumption averaged about 13 million barrels per day, accounting for roughly 28 percent of total US petroleum consumption.

Natural Gas

During the colonial era, a new form of energy was discovered. Natural gas is a hydrocarbon gas mixture, comprised primarily of methane, which occurs naturally. Natural gas serves many uses, as it can be used to heat buildings, generate electricity, power industrial concerns, and be used in the manufacture of goods and commodities such as plastic and fertilizers. Natural gas is also considered the cleanest of the fossil fuels, because it produces less carbon dioxide when burned than either coal or petroleum. The first appearance of natural gas in the United States occurred in New York in the 1800s. A gas spring was located in Fredonia, New York. The spring was known to local residents, but it was not until 1821 that William Hart organized a plan to use natural gas to provide light for the community. To that end, Hart organized a party that dug, by hand, the first well that contained natural gas in the United States.

Hart’s well was twenty-seven feet deep, and it was moved by a primitive pipeline constructed of hollowed logs sealed with rags and tar. Hart wished to continue his explorations, and to that end was awarded a land grant to carry on his research. Hart was later able to illuminate a lighthouse on Lake Erie using only natural gas. Natural gas was initially of interest because of its potential for lighting streets, homes, and businesses. As the nineteenth century progressed, natural gas became the primary source of lamp fuel. Due to the lack of gas lines and other infrastructure, however, natural gas was mostly limited to use for lighting. In 1854, however, German chemist Robert Bunsen devised a way to use natural gas for cooking and heating purposes. His Bunsen burner was able to produce a hot, sootless flame through mixing air with natural gas in a controlled manner before combustion. Bunsen’s discovery became a standard piece of laboratory equipment, and created a slew of possible commercial uses for natural gas. As a result, interest in natural gas grew exponentially.

Edwin Drake, who also drilled the first oil well in the United States, was able to commercialize natural gas through devising a means of distributing this energy source to businesses and large factories. Drake discovered natural gas supplies while attempting to find oil. Initially, natural gas competed with coal gas, which was manufactured through a destructive distilling process. Although coal and natural gas were often found in the same geological regions, coal gas was initially much more popular because of the ease with which coal can be transported, making it easily available in many places. A market for natural gas did not develop as quickly as that for coal, since it was expensive and difficult to transport and store natural gas. As a result, initially only businesses and communities located in close proximity to natural gas springs could utilize this form of energy. It took the development of pipelines for natural gas to become readily available and useful for energy purposes.

The first commercial natural gas pipeline was located in Fredonia, New York, and provided light and water distillation to a handful of homes and businesses. During most of the nineteenth century, natural gas pipelines suffered from terrible pipe instillation that caused consistent gas leaks and explosions. Manufacturers continuously attempted to discover a safer method to transport natural gas through pipes. Wooden pipes were tried, but this resulted in rot and a short lifespan for the pipeline. Pipes consisting of cast and wrought iron also caused leakage. Beginning in the 1930s and 1940s, steel began to be used to construct pipelines, a move that provided safe and reliable transport of natural gas. By 2016, the United States had hundreds of pipeline systems covering more than three million miles of interstate and intrastate natural gas transport. These pipelines are regulated by the US Department of Transportation’s Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS). The OPS exists to ensure the safe and environmentally sound transport of natural gas. Additionally, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission regulates the operation of natural gas pipelines that cross state lines, while most states have state government agencies that regulate intrastate pipelines.

Natural gas usage first began to increase during World War II, when a scarcity of petroleum made it an attractive alternative. Natural gas overtook coal gas in popularity during the 1940s and 1950s. Its use has continued to increase in the United States since the 1990s because of natural gas’ relatively low cost and ready availability. Natural gas is used for home heating and cooking, to power appliances such as clothes dryers, for transportation, and for power generation. Natural gas is also used in the manufacture of a variety of products, including fabrics, glass, paint, plastics, and steel. Natural gas produces 30 percent less carbon dioxide when burned than petroleum does, and 45 percent less carbon dioxide than coal, making it more popular with environmentalists and others concerned with reducing greenhouse gas emissions; however, if leaked, the methane in natural gas traps eighty-four times more heat in the atmosphere over twenty years than carbon dioxide does, making the prevention of fugitive emissions a critical environmental concern. By 2015, the United States ranked first in the world in both the production and use of natural gas. As of 2024, it remained in this position. A net exporter of natural gas, the United States became more self-sufficient with this resource than many others.

Nuclear Energy

During much of the 1950s and 1960s, nuclear power was seen as having the potential to deliver a safe and efficient source of energy. Nuclear power has a tremendous safety record and is much more environmentally friendly in terms of emissions than coal, petroleum, or natural gas. Nuclear power uses sustained nuclear fission to generate heat and electricity. The United States has ninety-nine nuclear reactors, which produced almost 20 percent of its annual electricity production in 2017. The first electricity generated from a nuclear plant occurred in 1951 at the Experimental Breeder Reactor I (EBR-I), which was located near Arco, Idaho. The United States also experimented with submarines powered by nuclear energy, with the USS Nautilus launched in 1954, three years after its commission. Nuclear power allowed the Nautilus to operate underwater much longer than conventional diesel-powered submarines. The United States’ initial commercial nuclear reactor, the Shippingport atomic power station, first connected to the power grid in 1956. Located in western Pennsylvania, Shippingport operated until being decommissioned in 1982. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), an independent agency of the US government, regulates the country’s nuclear power plants to ensure their safety and security.

Nuclear energy was initially popular because it was seen as having the ability to decrease the United States’ overuse of rapidly diminishing fossil fuels. Over the years, this enthusiasm has decreased for a variety of reasons. First, nuclear reactors are much more expensive to operate in comparison to power plants that run on coal. As state utility commissions began to resist the increased rates needed to support nuclear power, several utility companies canceled orders for new nuclear reactors. Second, safety and environmental concerns spurred by a series of nuclear disasters during the 1970s and 1980s and later by the 2012 Fukushima Daiichi disaster in Japan caused debates regarding how safe the plants were. Third, utility companies and the public became increasingly concerned with disposing of nuclear waste. For these reasons, investment in nuclear power decreased in the United States in the late twentieth century.

As concerns about greenhouse gas emissions have increased, however, the nuclear power industry has enjoyed something of a revival. This renaissance has been spurred by unstable prices for fossil fuels and new concerns about meeting greenhouse gas emissions limits. Capital expenditure to maintain and upgrade existing nuclear plants was $16.5 billion in 2023n.

Improvements in reactor design have led to increased safety, diminishing fears of a nuclear disaster. The United States has extended the licenses of many nuclear power plants to sixty years, and in 2012, the NRC approved the construction of new reactors for the first time in over thirty years. While uncertain, nuclear power may continue to provide a significant amount of the United States’ energy needs for years to come. As of 2024, the United States had 54 nuclear plants and a tital of 94 nuclear reactors.

Hydroelectricity

Hydroelectricity uses flowing water to generate electricity. The costs of hydroelectricity are low compared to other sources of energy, and the process produces no net waste and comparatively low emissions of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane. The United States generated about 6 percent of its electricity at utility-scale facilities from hydroelectric power in 2023. Because the United States is producing only a little more than 5 percent of its total hydroelectric capacity, which suggests that this source of energy might be further developed in the future. A great deal of hydroelectricity is created by using the potential energy of dammed water to drive a wheel turbine and generator, thus creating electricity. The first hydroelectric plant in the United States began operations in 1882 and was located along the Fox River in Appleton, Wisconsin. Hydroelectric plants on federal land are regulated by the Federal Power Commission, and a series of dams was built during the 1930s to generate hydroelectric power as well as other benefits, such as flood control, increased irrigation, and improved navigation.

Opponents of hydroelectricity decry the loss of land caused by the need to submerge large portions of land upstream from the dam in order to assure the flow of water needed to power the generators. Environmentalists oppose the destruction of lowlands and valleys, as this often fragments the habitats of various flora and fauna. Hydroelectricity can also disrupt aquatic ecosystems both upstream and downstream from the dam by interfering with the migratory patterns of fish. Areas downstream from the dam also contain very little sediment, which can threaten riverbanks over time. While these concerns are valid, the need for inexpensive sources of renewable energy will most likely keep interest in hydroelectricity high.

Wind Power

Farm windmills first appeared in the United States after 1850, providing an energy source that was self-manageable, inexpensive, and easy to maintain. American farm windmills made groundwater available to support agriculture and personal use. With the increased concerns about the effect of fossil fuels and other energy sources on the environment, the use of windmills as an alternative fuel source has grown. Wind is an energy resource that is renewable and can generate large amounts of electricity by the strides of wind. Large-scale wind farms are connected to the high-voltage electric transmission network.

The high-voltage electric transmission allows the bulk transfer of energy from generating power plants to substations near population centers. Wind farms use individual turbines that are interconnected with a power collection system and communications network. Induction generators, which are usually used for wind farms, generate electrical power when their shaft rotates at a faster speed than the normal frequency of the equivalent induction motor.

In 2008, the United States briefly became the world’s leading wind power producer, but it has since been surpassed by China. According to the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC), by end of year 2023, the United States had a total wind capacity of more than 425,235 gigawatt-hours. Although wind power does not produce toxic emissions, it is not without environmental risks. On average, 234,000 birds are killed a year in the United States due to collisions with wind turbines, as compared to millions dying annually because of nuclear and fossil fuel power plants. Because wind is uncertain and variable, wind power lacks predictability in the output of wind plants, which is exacerbated by inadequate storage systems for periods of high production. Until these problems are remedied, electrical generation will continue to rely on fossil fuel and nuclear power plants.

Bio-Based Fuel Sources

Bio-based energy uses wood chips, plants, and other forms of waste that can be produced into sources of energy. The conversion of plant life into fuel is known as biomass. Beginning in the twentieth century, the United States began producing ethanol by using organic products such as corn, sorghum, and sugar beets. This ethanol was then mixed with gasoline, producing gasohol. Gasohol has become increasingly popular in the United States. Beginning in 2023, at least 10 percent of gasoline used in the United States was ethanol. Biodiesels and ethanol fuel represent the main sources of biofuel in the United States. In 2024, the United States produced a record high of 1.109 million barrels of per day of ethanol; however, it consumed about 14.2 billion barrels of ethanol per day in 2023. Biofuel has been criticized by some for reducing fuel economy, clogging fuel systems, and shortening fuel storage lifespan. Some environmentalists also suggest that the process of making biofuel produces more emissions than it saves. Others objected to using potential food crops as feedstock for biofuels, and researchers have investigated the use of crop residues and agricultural wastes, such as corn stalks, instead. Since biofuel reduces American reliance on foreign oil and reduces carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide emissions, it will continue to be of interest.

Bibliography

America’s Energy Future. Real Prospects for Energy Efficiency in the United States. Washington, DC: National Academies Press, 2010.

American Wind Energy Association. “Wind Energy Fact Sheets: Wind Energy Rankings: Industry Rankings.” www.awea.org/la‗pubs‗factsheets.cfm. Accessed 12 Aug. 2024.

Chick, M. Electricity and Energy Policy in Britain, France, and the United States Since 1945. Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2007.

Database of State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency. “The Database of State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency.” dsireusa.org. Accessed 12 Aug. 2024.

Energy Explained. US Energy Information Administration, June 2018, www.eia.gov/energyexplained/index.cfm. Accessed 12 Aug. 2024.

Gonzalez, George A. Energy and Empire: The Politics of Nuclear and Solar Power in the United States. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2012.

Hunnicutt, Susan. Foreign Oil Dependence. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2008.

National Renewable Energy Laboratory. “Dynamic Maps, GIS Data, and Analysis Tools: Solar Maps.” www.nrel.gov/gis/solar.html. Accessed 12 Aug. 2024.

Sandalow, D. Freedom From Oil: How the Next President Can End the United States’ Oil Addiction. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2008.

Skea, J., P. Ekins, and M. Winskel, eds. Energy 2050: Making the Transition to a Secure Low Carbon Energy System. Oxford, UK: Earthscan, 2011.

Solomon, Barry D., and Valerie A. Luzadis. Renewable Energy From Forest Resources in the United States. New York: Routledge, 2009.

Sovacool, Benjamin K. The Dirty Energy Dilemma: What’s Blocking Clean Power in the United States. Westport, CT: Praeger, 2008.

US Department of Energy. “Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.” www.eere.energy.gov. Accessed 12 Aug. 2024.

US Department of Energy. United States Department of Energy Handbook. Washington, DC: International Business Publications, 2006.