U.S. Energy Consumption Reaches Record Level

Energy production and consumption data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) of the U.S. Department of Energy showed 1997 to be another record year.

Total U.S. energy consumption was 90.6 quads (95.6 x 10

¹² MJ). While this is less than a 1% increase over 1996, it does not bode well for achieving targeted reductions in carbon dioxide emissions, which are roughly proportional to energy use. Reflected in these numbers are a 2.1% increase in coal consumption compared to 1996, a 0.12% increase in natural gas consumption, and a 1.3% increase in petroleum consumption. At the same time, there was a 6.7%

decrease in nuclear power use to 6.7 quads (7.1 x 10

¹² MJ)—the second consecutive annual reduction in nuclear output. Hydroelectric consumption was up 2.3% at 3.9 quads (4.1 x 10

¹² MJ). The “other” category, with wood, waste-to-energy, wind, photovoltaics, and solar thermal, still barely registers on the EIA tables, with total 1997 consumption of 0.039 quads (41 x 10

⁹ MJ), just 0.04% of the total. Net energy imports in 1997 grew 5.9% to a record 20.4 quads (21.5 x 10

¹² MJ), with net dependence on imports (47.9%) reaching a record for the third year.