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Each year the U.S. consumes approximately 100 quads (quadrillion BTU’s) of energy. The leading source of energy in the U.S., measured in BTUs, is oil. Coal and natural gas are each used about half as much. Nuclear energy is a distant fourth, followed by hydroelectric power. Transportation mostly relies upon oil. Industry relies on oil and natural gas equally. Electrical power predominantly comes from coal. Most nuclear and coal power goes into electricity production. The image is for 2008 statistics, in quadrillion BTUs. (A quadrillion is a million-billion-billion.)
Start oil
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Oil prices need to be relatively high (roughly, above $75 per barrel) to warrant the extra expense of extracting and refining heavier oils, e.g., from oil sands. The distribution of usage within the oil sector is likely to shift from light sweet crude toward heavier oils, especially once oil prices return to levels seen in the second half of 2008.
gas
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Natural gas is expected to gain in usage compared to the other main sources in the next two decades, due to the expected increase in oil prices. While demand in the transportation sector is inflexible, demand in industry is not. Industry gets a majority (44 percent) of its energy from oil, followed closely by natural gas. Those positions may flip in the next two years as demand from India and China drives up oil prices.
coal
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Coal may lose its position among other fuels, if a carbon credit system is implemented that severely penalizes coal use. The “clean coal” initiative could counter this, but that would depend upon the development of technology that, as of mid-2009, does not exist.
nuc
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Nuclear energy is used exclusively for electricity production. Therefore, increasing nuclear energy production would reduce our need for domestic coal and natural gas, but would not significantly reduce our demand for foreign oil.
oil
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The current numbers are not much different from 10 years ago. This is likely to stay the same for another decade. Even with a precipitous rise in oil demand from India and China, the 95 percent of transportation energy that comes from oil is quite rigid, being a function of what fuel the engines on the road can burn and the time needed to add infrastructure for delivery of new types of fuel.
Other elements are less predictable. For example, the acceptance of new nuclear plants would likely depend on the price of oil, which has been a significant tool in winning acceptance of nuclear energy--despite that nuclear energy would not diminish oil demand in the transportation sector, the sector which uses the most oil by far.
