Detailed Analysis
July 3, 2024
Data source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Monthly Energy Review. Data for pre-1949 is based on Energy in the American Economy, 1850-1975: History and Outlook and USDA Circular No. 641, Firewood Use in the United States, 1630-1930.
Note: Data uses a captured energy approach to account for wind, hydro, solar, and geothermal.
According to our monthly energy review, the amount of energy consumed in the United States in 2023 was 94 quadrillion British thermal units (quads), down 1% from 2022. Fossil fuels (oil, natural gas, and coal) accounted for about 83% of total energy consumption in the United States in 2023. Non-fossil fuel energy from renewable sources and nuclear power made up the remaining 17%. In 2023, oil will remain the most consumed fuel in the United States as it has for the past 73 years, and renewable energy will surpass coal for the first time in about 140 years.
How has energy use changed throughout American history?
Wood, a renewable energy source, was the largest source of energy in the United States when the Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776. Used for heating, cooking and lighting, wood remained the largest source of energy in the United States until it was overtaken by coal in the late 1800s.
Early instances of using water power for flour milling, lumbering, and other milling operations have not been well quantified and are not included in this data, but such mills were common throughout early U.S. history. The first industrial use of hydroelectric power in the United States was in 1880 to power lamps at a chair factory in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The world’s first hydroelectric power plant selling electricity to the public opened on the Fox River near Appleton, Wisconsin, in 1882.
Renewable energy has not been a significant part of US energy until very recently. Biofuels surpassed wood in 2016 to become the most consumed renewable energy source in the US. In the 1980s, the US began to see an increase in consumption of ethanol blended with petroleum-based motor gasoline, followed by biodiesel and renewable diesel blended with petroleum-based diesel. Renewable diesel can be used as a substitute for petroleum-based diesel, but chemical differences limit the amount of biodiesel that can be blended with petroleum-based diesel. US renewable diesel is expected to surpass biodiesel use for the first time in 2022.
Data source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Monthly Energy Review. Data for pre-1949 is based on Energy in the American Economy, 1850-1975: History and Outlook and USDA Circular No. 641, Firewood Use in the United States, 1630-1930.
Note: Data uses a captured energy approach to account for wind, hydro, solar, and geothermal.
In recent years, electricity generation from zero-carbon sources such as wind and solar has increased rapidly. In 2022, U.S. energy consumption from renewable energy sources will exceed energy consumption from nuclear power for the first time since 1984. U.S. nuclear energy consumption began in the late 1950s and has remained fairly constant since the early 2000s.
Coal was the largest source of energy in the United States for about 65 years, from 1885 until oil overtook it in 1950. Early uses of coal included many applications that are no longer common, such as stoves for heating homes and engines for transportation on trains and ships. Since the 1960s, nearly all of the coal consumed in the United States has been used to generate electricity.
Oil has been the most consumed energy source in the United States since 1950. Petroleum products, such as gasoline for automobiles, diesel, jet fuel and propane, are widely used in all sectors of the modern U.S. economy, from transportation to industrial chemicals and plastics.
Natural gas has been the second largest source of energy consumption in the United States in most years since it surpassed coal in 1958. Once considered a waste by-product of crude oil production, natural gas has become a popular energy source used for heating and electricity generation. Thanks in part to recent advances in U.S. drilling technology, the availability of natural gas in the United States has increased rapidly, and in 2020, with COVID-19 restrictions on energy consumption for transportation, natural gas consumption nearly surpassed oil.
How did U.S. energy consumption change in 2023?
U.S. renewable energy consumption is expected to grow 2% from 2022 to reach a record high of 8.2 quads in 2023, driven by increased use of biofuels in transportation and growing solar photovoltaics for electricity generation. In 2023, U.S. wind energy consumption fell for the first time in 25 years.
Coal consumption is expected to fall to 8.2 quads in 2023, the lowest since around 1900. U.S. coal consumption has fallen by more than half since its 2005 peak, due mainly to a decline in coal use for electricity generation.
Nuclear energy consumption in 2023 will total 8.1 quads, a slight increase compared to 2022. This slight increase is primarily due to the new Vogtle 3 reactor, which will begin construction in July 2023 in Georgia.
U.S. oil consumption is down from its 2005 peak, at 35.4 quads per hour in 2023. Most of the oil energy is consumed for transportation. Although the use of electric vehicles is on the rise, oil remains the primary fuel for cars, trucks, and planes.
U.S. natural gas consumption reaches a record high of 33.6 quads in 2023, driven primarily by increased power use. Since 2018, the U.S. power sector has consumed more natural gas each year than any other sector of the economy.
How do different types of energy compare to each other?
We use a common unit of heat called the British Thermal Unit to compare energy across sources and sectors.
From the release of our 2023 data, we have changed our approach to converting electricity generated by non-combustible renewables into British thermal units and revised our assessment of when renewable energy consumption will exceed coal consumption.
Under the captured energy approach we currently use, U.S. consumption of renewable energy would exceed coal in 2023 for the first time since about 1885. Under the previous fossil fuel equivalent approach, renewable energy would have surpassed coal in 2019.
Key contributors: Mickey Francis, Owen Comstock
