File:Facts about US Energy Use.jpg

September 2024

How do Americans power their lives? Steve Ballmer breaks down the facts about US energy use, production, and environmental impact. Get the data right from US government sources.

Watch the Video and Read the 'Facts about US Energy' Transcript

• https://usafacts.org/just-the-facts/energy/

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCbUx_znoYg

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Ballmer

About USAFacts

Steve Ballmer launched USAFacts.org in 2017, a not-for-profit organization whose goal is to allow people to understand U.S. government revenue, spending and societal impact. He is reported to have contributed $10 million to fund teams of researchers who populated the website's database with official data.

Transcript: Hi, I'm Steve Ballmer. I spent 34 years growing Microsoft, 10 years owning the 0:06 LA Clippers basketball team. I love computers, data, and facts. That's why I started USAFacts, 0:13 to help understand what our government is up to and what's going on in America. I'll 0:19 share with you the facts and data, all from our government. You make up 0:24 your own mind. In this episode of just the facts: energy and the environment. 0:32 But first a quick disclaimer: as I talk I do a lot of rounding of numbers but the data you 0:38 see on screen will be more exact. So now let's roll. Right now you're using energy to watch this 0:47 episode and we used energy to make it. America consumes a lot of energy. With only 4% of the 0:55 world's population, we account for about 16% of global energy use. We use more energy than any 1:03 other country except for China, but it spreads that energy use across a population four times 1:10 larger than ours. The federal government, and many state governments, are passing laws and 1:16 regulations designed to reduce our use of fossil fuels and increase renewable energy 1:22 production. So what can we learn from the data? Let's start with energy consumption. In 2023, 1:29 America consumed 93.6 quadrillion British Thermal Units, or BTUs, of energy. A quadrillion is a huge 1:40 number. It's a one, followed by 15 zeros. It's a million billions. A BTU measures the heat content 1:51 of various fuel sources. A single BTU is about equal to the energy released by burning a single 2:00 match. There's a BTU. Now let's look at the energy the average American uses in our homes each year, 2:15 about 63 million BTUs per person. We use about half of this energy for heating 2:22 and air conditioning, another quarter is for lighting, refrigeration and hot water, the rest 2:30 for powering major appliances like washers, dryers, televisions, and stoves., As well as 2:37 consumer electronics like phones and computers. As for American electric bills, the retail price of 2:43 electricity an average residential electric bills have stayed about the same over the last decade 2:50 ,when adjusted for inflation. For many people I encounter, the energy price they care about 2:56 most is the price of gasoline, which cost $3.52 a gallon on average in 2023. For perspective: 3:06 since 1950 the lowest Americans ever paid for gas, on an inflation adjusted basis, was $1.98 3:15 in 1998. The highest was $4.88 in 2012. Remember, it's an average, so in some places it's more some 3:26 it's less and all those prices include gas tax. Overall, the proportion of total consumer spending 3:33 spent on energy is lower today than in the past. 40 years ago total energy costs accounted for 8% 3:43 of all consumer spending. That's recently dropped to around 4.2%. And frankly, that surprised 3:49 me -- I did think it would be higher. Now let's look at how different sectors of our economy use 3:56 energy. Our electric power sector, that is the utilities in companies that make electricity, 4:02 is the biggest energy hog. It accounts for 34% of all energy use. But here's a fact that surprised 4:11 me: more than half of the energy consumed is lost in the process of getting that electricity to the 4:19 consumer. The remaining energy is used in three primary ways: residential, commercial, and the 4:28 industrial sector. The other big energy consumer in our economy is transportation. Transportation 4:35 accounts for 30% of all energy consumption, almost 90% of which comes from gas and diesel 4:41 fuels burned by vehicles on the road. The US has more than 280 million registered vehicles, 4:49 less than 1% of these are electric vehicles and hybrids, although they comprise over 16% of all 4:57 light duty vehicle sales in the US in 2023. The industrial sector, which includes manufacturing, 5:04 construction and agriculture, among others, is the next biggest energy consumer at 28%. 75% of this 5:15 energy comes from petroleum products and natural gas, and 13% from electricity. Data centers and 5:23 artificial intelligence may increase demand from this sector. That leaves residential (our homes) 5:31 at 12%, and the commercial sector, which includes places like office buildings, retail stores, 5:38 and that all accounts for about 10% of energy use. Let's close our look at consumption by breaking 5:45 down the kinds of energy we use. Fossil fuels like oil, coal, and natural gas still provide most of 5:54 America's energy needs. 20 years ago, fossil fuels accounted for 88% of our energy consumption. In 6:03 2023 it was 82%, with nuclear power accounting for 9%, and renewable energy which includes solar, 6:12 wind, hydropower, geothermal, and biomass (like ethanol), accounted for 9%. The most significant 6:21 shift in our energy mix is the steep drop in coal, from 37% of America's energy use in 1950, 6:29 to only 9% in 2023. Now let's talk about energy production. Big picture: America's production of 6:40 oil, natural gas, and renewables is growing, with natural gas growing most of all. In 1950, natural 6:49 gas was about 18% of total US energy production. In 2023, it was about 38%. Nuclear production 6:59 has remained relatively flat since about 2001. Renewables are growing fast, with wind production 7:06 more than doubling over the last decade, and solar growing by a factor of seven. But they remain a 7:13 small part of our overall energy mix, with wind accounting for just 1%, and solar just 1%. As for 7:21 oil, US domestic crude oil production has more than doubled since 2000. In 2023, we produced 7:30 nearly 22 million barrels daily, or around 22% of the global world supply. We exported an average of 7:40 4.1 million barrels daily, but we also imported nearly 6.5 million barrels a day. Wait a second 7:49

why are we importing energy and exporting energy at the same time? Glad you asked! Depending on

7:55 where the oil and gas is found in the US, it may or may not be easily transported, refined, 8:01 or processed for US consumers. And not all oil is alike. Sometimes it can make sense to ship 8:09 oil or natural gas abroad, while importing other forms of oil and gas for use in the US market. The 8:16 US is the world's number one producer of oil and the number one producer of gas. In 2020, for the 8:24 first time on record, the US began a streak of being a net exporter of petroleum, and we have 8:31 been a net exporter of natural gas since 2017. Through the 2021 Inflation Reduction Act, the US 8:40 government now offers an array of tax credits to incentivize the production of renewable energies, 8:47 and the adoption of more electric vehicles. And many states have passed rules requiring 8:53 their utilities to produce more electricity from renewable sources. Shifting gears, 9:00 let's talk about the environment. Let's start with good news: air pollution levels across the United 9:07 States are improving. In the last 5 years, major US cities have had 2/3 fewer unhealthy air quality 9:16 days than we did two decades ago. Fantastic! What about water? Well you may have read news stories 9:25 about drought conditions in certain parts of the US, but nationally at least, the previous 50 years 9:31 have generally been wetter than average. In the last century, the worst periods of drought in the 9:37 US were the 1930s and 1950s. The US is seeing more natural disasters that cost over a billion dollars 9:47 of damage, even after adjusting for inflation. There have been 39 such disasters between 2023 9:55 and 2024, which is more than there were from 1980 to 1990 in total. Data shows that the planet is 10:05 experiencing higher temperatures. The earth's average land and ocean surface temperature in 10:12 2023 set a record at 212° F above the average of the last 100 years. Global sea levels have risen 8 10:24 to 9 inches since 1880. The rate in the previous three decades is nearly double that of the 10:32 last century. In 2022, worldwide there were 523 particles of CO2 and equivalents from other gases 10:43 like methane, per 1 million air particles. That number was only 388 in 1979, increased to 461 in 10:56 2004, and then 478 in 2010. Greenhouse gases are a global phenomenon. America's annual greenhouse gas 11:05 emissions increased throughout the 90's but peaked in 2007, and actually had declined by 16% by 2022 11:15 to about 6.3 million metric tons, which is the equivalent of nearly 20 Empire State buildings. 11:24 Historically, the United States has admitted more greenhouse gases per person than any other 11:31 country. These gases can stay in the atmosphere from anywhere from a few years to thousands of 11:37 years. But even as our emissions decline others are increasing. Today China is the world's 11:45 top source of greenhouse gases, emitting more than twice as much as the US did. About 73% of 11:53 America's greenhouse gases result from our burning fossil fuels for energy, with the transportation 11:59 sector being the most significant source of these emissions. Transportation is responsible for 28% 12:07 of total greenhouse gas emissions, followed by electricity generation at 25%, and the 12:16 industrial sector at 23%. The remainder came from residential use, commercial use, and agricultural 12:24 emissions. About 87% of these gases end up in our atmosphere, the other 13% is sequestered, 12:33 or sucked back into the land by forests plants oceans and various land management practices. 12:41 Some, including me, say act aggressively now on greenhouse gases. Others say we have time 12:50 to let technologies resolve these issues. Still others reject there's any problem at all. Global 12:59 forces will also impact the picture. For example, Russia invading Ukraine, unrest in Venezuela, 13:07 reduced the amount of oil that the US imported from both countries. Ultimately, it's up to you to 13:14 learn the facts, reflect on varying opinions from scientists and economists about what might happen, 13:21 and make up your own mind. What risk we might take for the future with our kids and grandkids, and 13:29 others who will come, versus the painful issues of today and the potential in rising energy prices. 13:37 This is Just the Facts from usafacts.org. We share the government data, you decide what you believe.

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