Last updated on: 8/19/2020 | Author: ProCon.org

United States Energy Use by Source

Fossil fuels accounted for 80% of total energy consumption in 2019, down from 90.68% in 1949. The use of renewable energy has risen from 9.30% in 1949 to 11.44% in 2019, and the use of nuclear energy has risen to 8.45% in 2019 from 0.01% in 1960. Below find charts and graphs showing how much of each type of energy the United States was used from 1949 to 2019, both in percentage of total energy use and quadrillion Btu.

According to the US Energy Information Administration, “A British thermal unit (Btu) is a measure of the heat content of fuels or energy sources. It is the quantity of heat required to raise the temperature of one pound of liquid water by 1 degree Fahrenheit at the temperature that water has its greatest density (approximately 39 degrees Fahrenheit).”

For individual state data, please see “State-by-State Energy Use.”


Fossil Fuel Energy

Fossil Fuel Energy as % of Total Energy Consumption

YearCoalNatural GasPetroleumTotal Fossil Fuels
201911.30%32.04%3.67%80.00%
201813.11%30.75%3.65%80.32%
201714.18%28.74%3.69%79.83%
201614.62%29.18%3.67%80.46%
201515.97%28.95%3.63%81.22%
201418.31%27.86%3.53%81.42%
201318.57%27.60%3.54%81.58%
201218.41%27.64%3.59%81.91%
201120.30%25.77%3.58%81.83%
201021.36%25.20%3.62%82.78%
200920.96%24.93%3.70%82.88%
200822.67%24.14%3.72%84.09%
200722.55%23.45%3.90%85.05%
200622.58%22.37%4.00%85.00%
200522.77%22.54%4.018%85.54%
200422.47%22.92%4.01%85.66%
200322.81%23.34%3.96%85.77%
200222.46%24.10%3.91%85.70%
200122.81%23.71%3.96%86.19%
200022.88%24.14%3.87%85.73%
199922.40%23.73%3.91%85.27%
199822.81%24.05%3.87%85.62%
199722.69%24.57%3.82%85.47%
199622.36%24.58%3.79%84.84%
199522.09%24.93%3.78%84.86%
199422.37%24.42%3.87%85.58%
199322.73%24.33%3.85%85.58%
199222.31%24.16%3.90%85.55%
199122.51%23.74%3.89%85.12%
199022.71%23.22%3.97%85.61%
198922.50%23.13%4.03%85.99%
198822.80%22.32%4.13%86.51%
198722.79%22.33%4.15%86.67%
198622.53%21.66%4.20%86.14%
198522.90%23.19%4.04%86.51%
198422.29%24.02%4.05%86.78%
198321.80%23.62%4.11%86.53%
198220.98%25.13%4.13%87.39%
198120.92%25.96%4.19%88.78%
198019.77%25.94%4.38%89.44%
197918.61%25.57%4.59%90.14%
197817.23%25.03%4.75%89.87%
197717.87%25.58%4.76%91.05%
197617.89%26.79%4.63%90.96%
197517.60%27.73%4.55%90.81%
197417.13%29.40%4.52%91.81%
197317.15%29.76%4.60%92.90%
197216.62%31.24%4.53%93.13%
197116.75%32.44%4.41%93.23%
197018.08%32.14%4.35%93.64%
196918.88%31.52%4.32%93.52%
196819.76%30.78%4.32%93.73%
196720.23%30.47%4.29%93.59
196621.32%29.84%4.27%93.85%
196521.46%29.23%4.30%93.63%
196421.18%29.54%4.30%93.68%
196321.00%29.05%4.36%93.68%
196220.74%28.74%4.40%93.42%
196121.06%28.29%4.41%93.48%
196021.84%27.50%4.41%93.45%
195921.92%26.98%4.44%93.29%
195822.91%25.63%4.44%92.96%
195725.92%24.41%4.29%93.15%
195627.20%23.04%4.29%93.13%
195527.79%22.40%4.29%93.04%
195426.53%22.75%4.32%92.46%
195330.21%21.01%4.13%92.46%
195230.79%20.56%4.07%91.97%
195133.97%19.07%3.90%91.97%
195035.69%17.25%3.84%91.38
194937.48%16.09%3.71%90.68%

Fossil Fuel Energy Consumption as Quadrillion Btu


Renewable Energy

Renewable Energy as % of Total Energy Consumption

YearHydroelectricGeothermalSolarWindBiomassTotal Renewable Energy
20192.49%0.21%1.04%2.73%4.98%11.44%
20182.63%0.21%0.91%2.46%4.98%11.18%
20172.83%0.215%0.80%2.40%5.10%11.35%
20162.54%0.215%0.59%2.15%5.15%10.65%
20152.38%0.22%0.43%1.83%5.12%9.98%
20142.51%0.22%0.34%1.76%5.08%9.91%
20132.64%0.22%0.23%1.65%4.99%9.73%
20122.79%0.22%0.17%1.42%4.78%9.37%
20113.20%0.22%0.12%1.21%4.76%9.50%
20102.60%0.21%0.09%0.95%4.62%8.48%
20092.84%0.21%0.08%0.77%4.19%8.10%
20082.54%0.19%0.08%0.55%3.90%7.27%
20072.42%0.18%0.07%0.34%3.45%6.47%
20062.89%0.18%0.06%0.27%3.28%6.68%
20052.70%0.18%0.06%0.18%3.11%6.23%
20042.69%0.18%0.06%0.14%3.01%6.07%
20032.85%0.18%0.06%0.12%2.87%6.08%
20022.76%0.18%0.06%0.11%2.77%5.87%
20012.33%0.17%0.06%0.07%2.73%5.37%
20002.85%0.17%0.06%0.06%3.05%6.18%
19993.38%0.18%0.07%0.05%3.07%6.75%
19983.47%0.18%0.07%0.03%3.08%6.84%
19973.85%0.18%0.07%0.04%3.29%7.42%
19963.82%0.17%0.07%0.04%3.36%7.47%
19953.52%0.17%0.08%0.04%3.41%7.21%
19943.02%0.19%0.08%0.04%3.40%6.73%
19933.32%0.21%0.07%0.04%3.33%6.97%
19923.05%0.21%0.07%0.03%3.42%6.79%
19913.57%0.21%0.07%0.04%3.30%7.19%
19903.61%0.20%0.07%0.03%3.24%7.15%
19893.35%0.19%0.06%0.03%3.73%7.36%
19882.82%0.13%0.00%0.00%3.65%6.60%
19873.33%0.14%0.00%0.00%3.64%7.12%
19864.01%0.14%0.00%0.00%3.83%7.98%
19853.89%0.13%0.00%0.00%3.95%7.97%
19844.42%0.11%0.00%0.00%3.88%8.41%
19834.84%0.09%n/a0.00%3.98%8.91%
19824.47%0.07%n/an/a3.65%8.19%
19813.63%0.08%n/an/a3.41%7.12%
19803.72%0.07%n/an/a3.17%6.96%
19793.63%0.05%n/an/a2.66%6.34%
19783.68%0.04%n/an/a2.55%6.26%
19772.99%0.05%n/an/a2.36%5.40%
19763.92%0.05%n/an/a2.26%6.22%
19754.39%0.05%n/an/a2.08%6.52%
19744.30%0.03%n/an/a2.08%6.41%
19733.78%0.03%n/an/a2.02%5.83%
19723.94%0.02%n/an/a2.07%6.03%
19714.08%0.01%n/an/a2.07%6.15%
19703.88%0.01%n/an/a2.11%6.00%
19694.037%0.01%n/an/a2.20%6.24%
19683.76%0.01%n/an/a2.27%6.05%
19673.98%0.01%n/an/a2.286.27%
19663.62%0.00%n/an/a2.40%6.03
19653.82%0.00%n/an/a2.47%6.29%
19643.64%0.00%n/an/a2.58%6.23%
19633.57%0.00%n/an/a2.67%6.24%
19623.80%0.00%n/an/a2.72%6.53%
19613.63%0.00%n/an/a2.83%6.46%
19603.57%0.00%n/an/a2.93%6.50%
19593.57%n/an/an/a3.12%6.68%
19583.83%n/an/an/a3.18%7.01%
19573.63%n/an/an/a3.19%6.82%
19563.44%n/an/an/a3.39%6.83%
19553.38%n/an/an/a3.54%6.93%
19543.71%n/an/an/a3.81%7.52%
19533.75%n/an/an/a3.77%7.52%
19523.99%n/an/an/a4.01%8.01%
19513.85%n/an/an/a4.15%8.01%
19504.09%n/an/an/a4.52%8.61%
19494.46%n/an/an/a4.85%9.30%

Renewable Energy Consumption as Quadrillion Btu


Nuclear Energy

Nuclear Energy as % of Total Energy Consumption

YearNuclear
20198.45%
20188.35%
20178.63%
20168.66%
20158.56%
20148.48%
20138.49%
20128.54%
20118.54%
20108.65%
20098.89%
20088.53%
20078.38%
20068.26%
20058.15%
20048.22%
20038.14%
20028.35%
20018.36%
20007.97%
19997.88%
19987.45%
19976.98%
19967.54%
19957.78%
19947.52%
19937.35%
19927.56%
19917.61%
19907.23%
19896.61%
19886.76%
19876.02%
19865.72%
19855.34%
19844.64%
19834.39%
19824.29%
19813.95%
19803.51%
19793.43%
19783.78%
19773.47%
19762.78%
19752.64%
19741.72%
19731.20%
19720.80%
19710.60%
19700.35%
19690.23%
19680.23%
19670.15%
19660.11%
19650.08%
19640.08%
19630.08%
19620.06%
19610.04%
19600.01%
19590.01%
19580.00%
19570.00%
19560.00%
19550.00%
19540.00%
19530.00%
19520.00%
19510.00%
19500.00%
19490.00%

Nuclear Energy Consumption as Quadrillion Btu


Sources:

US Energy Information Administration, “Units and Calculators Explained: British Thermal Units (Btu),” eia.gov, June 4, 2020

US Energy Information Administration, “Primary Energy Consumption by Source,” eia.gov, July 2020