Here’s a trivia question… What do you think is our most commonly used energy source? Is it solar, wind, nuclear, coal, oil, natural gas?
On the basis of BTUs used in 2016: Oil was 37%, natural gas 29%, coal 15%, nuclear power 9%, and all renewables together (hydro, wind, solar and biomass) were 10%.
While it is interesting that oil is still number one in terms of fuel consumed (dominated by gasoline and diesel for transportation), when you consider the BTUs of what is actually being produced in the U.S., natural gas is our major energy source. Last year the U.S. produced 27 quadrillion BTUs of natural gas. Oil production was 19 quadrillion BTUs, followed by coal, nuclear, biomass, then renewables.
How does the U.S use more oil but produce more natural gas? And what are the future trends? For more about the current and near future reality of our fuel sources (polluting as they may be), please Listen up to this week’s Energy Show on Renewable Energy World.