Energy in the United States

Energy in the United States is obtained from a diverse portfolio of sources, although the majority came from fossil fuels in 2023, as 38% of the nation's energy originated from petroleum, 36% from natural gas, and 9% from coal. Electricity from nuclear power supplied 9% and renewable energy supplied 9%, which includes biomass, wind, hydro, solar and geothermal.

Energy figures are measured in BTU, with 1 BTU equal to 1.055 kJ and 1 quadrillion BTU (1 quad) equal to 1.055 EJ. Because BTU is a unit of heat, sources that generate electricity directly are multiplied by a conversion factor to equate them with sources that use a heat engine.

The United States was the second-largest energy producer and consumer in 2021 after China. The country had a per capita energy consumption of 295 million BTU (311 GJ), ranking it tenth in the world behind Canada, Norway, and several Arabian nations. Consumption in 2023 was mostly for industry (33%) and transportation (30%), with use in homes (20%) and commercial buildings (17%) making up the remainder.

The United States' portion of the electrical grid in North America had a nameplate capacity of 1,280 GW and produced 4,029 TWh in 2023, using 34% of primary energy to do so. The country is the second-largest producer and consumer of electricity, behind China. Natural gas overtook coal as the dominant source for electric generation in 2016. Coal was overtaken by nuclear for the first time in 2020 and by renewables in 2023.

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