In this factsheet, we’re highlighting energy consumption in the United States by sector and industry to give you an at-glance look at the current and potential future state of energy generation and consumption in the country.
But before diving into numbers, let’s review energy types.
Types of Energy That the United States Produces
In the United States, many companies work to produce various types of energy, which can be organized into the following categories:
Primary Energy
Primary energy is harvested directly from natural resources and is an original, unprocessed form of energy that exists in nature, such as oil, coal, and natural gas, as well as renewable forms of energy, like hydropower.
Within the realm of primary energy, there are two distinct categories: primary fuels and primary energy flows. Here’s a brief breakdown of each:
- Primary fuels: This category includes solid, liquid, or gaseous materials that can be burned to release energy, such as coal, oil, natural gas, biomass, and uranium.
- Primary energy flows: Opposite to fuels, flows are continuous streams of energy that can be captured and converted into usable forms of energy, such as solar radiation, wind, moving water (hydropower), and geothermal heat.
Primary energy is a raw material used for secondary energy production.
Secondary Energy
Secondary energy is energy that has been converted into a more convenient or usable form from primary sources. Examples of secondary energy include:
- Liquid fuels, such as gasoline and diesel.
- Electricity.
- Heat.
- Biofuel.
Depending on the type of primary energy harvested, conversion processes look different.
| Source | Conversion process(es) |
| Fossil fuels | Combustion Refining |
| Renewables | Solar photovoltaics (PV) Concentrated solar power (CSP) Wind turbines Hydropower dams Geothermal power plants |
| Biomass | Direct combustion Biogasification Biodiesel production |
| Nuclear | Nuclear fission |
Renewable Energy
This form of energy is derived from sources that are naturally replenished on a human timescale. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), the major types of renewable energy sources are:
- Hydropower.
- Geothermal.
- Wind.
- Solar.
- Biomass (wood and wood waste, municipal solid waste, landfill gas and biogas, biofuels).
Fossil Fuel
Fossil fuels are naturally occurring resources from in Earth’s crust formed by decaying plant and animal matter.
Examples include coal, petroleum (oil), and natural gas. Fossil fuels are still the dominant source of energy in the United States, but there’s a growing awareness of their environmental impact, particularly greenhouse gas emissions. As a result, a push to use more renewable energy is underway worldwide.
Energy Consumption By Source
The latest data available from the U.S. EIA states that primary energy consumption in the country in 2022 was equal to 100.41 quadrillion Btu.
Here’s a brief breakdown of consumption by primary energy source according to the EIA in 2023:
- Petroleum (oil): 36%
- Natural gas: 33%
- Renewable energy: 13%
- Coal: 10%
- Nuclear electric power: 8%
The organization further breaks down renewable energy (13% of total energy consumption) into the following categories:
- Biomass (biomass waste, biofuels, wood): 37%
- Wind: 29%
- Hydroelectric: 18%
- Solar: 14.2%
- Geothermal: 1.6%
Energy Consumption By Sector / Industry
To better measure and analyze energy use in the U.S., the government developed five energy-use sectors, which are defined as “a group of major energy-consuming components of U.S. society.”
The five sectors, followed by their total energy consumption, include:
- Industrial: 32.4%
- Transportation: 27.4%
- Residential: 21.7%
- Commercial: 18.1%
The industrial industry, which is the largest consumer of primary energy in the U.S., is further broken out into particular major industries, including manufacturing, mining, construction, and agriculture.
According to the most recently available data, the total energy consumption for each of these industries is as follows:
- Manufacturing: 76%
- Mining: 12%
- Construction: 7%
- Agriculture: 4%
The EIA breaks manufacturing down even further to distinguish energy consumption by major types of manufacturers:
- Chemicals: 37%
- Petroleum and coal products: 22%
- Paper: 11%
- Primary metals: 8%
- Food: 6%
- Non-metallic minerals: 4%
- All other: 13%
The U.S. Electric Power Sector
The industrial, transportation, residential, and commercial verticals are what the EIA calls end-use sectors because they consume electricity produced by the electric power sector. So, the electric power sector is represented as a standalone industry, as it consists of plants that sell electricity, or electricity and heat, to the public and other sectors.
Not surprisingly, the electric power sector was responsible for 96% of total U.S. utility-scale electricity generation in 2022, most of which was sold off to other sectors — industrial, transportation, residential, and commercial.
Which Sectors Consume What Types of Most of Energy?
Diving deeper into the data, the EIA further discerns energy consumption by sector and source, to answer questions like: Which sector uses the most petroleum? Which heavily relies on natural gas?
Here’s a breakdown of consumption by sector and source:
Transportation Sector – Majority Petroleum
- Petroleum: 90%
- Natural gas: 5%
- Renewable energy: 6%
- Electricity purchased from the electric power sector: <1%
Industrial Sector – Majority Natural Gas
- Petroleum: 34%
- Natural gas: 41%
- Renewable energy: 9%
- Coal: 3%
- Electricity purchased from the electric power sector: 13%
Residential Sector – Majority Natural Gas & Electricity
- Petroleum: 8%
- Natural gas: 42%
- Renewable energy: 8%
- Electricity purchased from the electric power sector: 42%
Commercial Sector – Majority Electricity
- Petroleum: 9%
- Natural gas: 38%
- Renewable energy: 3%
- Coal: <1%
- Electricity purchased from the electric power sector: 49%
Electric Power Sector – Majority Natural Gas
- Petroleum: 1%
- Natural gas: 33%
- Renewable energy: 21%
- Coal: 23%
- Nuclear: 21%
10 Quick U.S. Energy Consumption Facts and Trends
We’ve thrown a lot of facts at you in this factsheet, but here are a few more interesting points and trends that authorities in the space have deemed important or exciting to track:
1. The United States has a huge economy and, according to the most recently available data from EIA, consumed about 16% of the world’s primary energy in 2022. That’s about 95 quadrillion Btu of the more than 600 quadrillion Btu consumed worldwide.
2. Per capita consumption of primary energy in the U.S. was about 274 million Btu in 2023. Interestingly, this figure is nearly the same as per capita energy consumption in the year 1965, which is recorded at 271 million Btu. The highest year on record was 1973, which saw a per capita consumption of 348 million Btu.
3. Electricity sales to end-use customers are expected to increase by about 3% in 2024 and an additional 1% in 2025. This growth is, according to EIA, mostly driven by the increase in demand for air conditioning as warmer weather continues to be the norm.
4. Solar capacity in the United States is growing! In 2023, the electric power sector added 19 gigawatts (GW) of solar capacity — an increase of 27% from the previous year. In 2024, it’s expected to grow even further, adding an estimated 36 GW, and an additional 35 GW in 2025.
5. While 2022 saw the electric power sector receive 23% of its energy from coal, its coal consumption is forecasted to decline by 5% come 2025.
6. Electricity demand globally, not just in the U.S., is expected to rise at a quicker rate over the next three years. Interestingly, 2023 saw a dip in demand from the year previous due to high inflation and “lackluster macroeconomic economies, which reduced manufacturing and industrial output.” Growth is projected at an average of 3.4% annually through 2026.
7. Climate change is a big issue. And perhaps not surprisingly, the demand for power that’s expected to continue growing over the next few years will potentially strain climate goals across the U.S. A New York Times article attributes the rise in demand to a couple of key factors: a surge in “power-hungry data centers” in Virginia; new large manufacturing hubs popping up in Georgia that want to connect to the electricity grid; etc.
8. Since 2019, the U.S. has produced more energy than it consumes. In 2022, the country produced about 102.92 quads while only consuming approximately 100.41 quads.
9. Hydropower energy generation in the U.S. declined in 2023, along with other countries like Canada, China, India, and more. The International Energy Agency (IEA) attributes the drop-off mostly to abnormal weather, such as droughts and below-average rainfall.
10. Renewables are making good progress worldwide. The forecasted rise in electricity generation by renewables is expected to grow from 30% in 2023 to 37% in 2026.
The Future of Energy Consumption In the U.S.: A Brief Energy Outlook
The growth of renewable energy, which is perhaps one of the most important goals for not only the U.S. but other major economies worldwide, is expected to remain strong. The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), expects solar and wind energy, when combined, to grow 11% year on year throughout 2024 and beyond.
This isn’t without its challenges, however, as the EIU outlines continued supply chain issues, high mining costs, and low auction prices as top obstacles to growth.
In the same vein, the U.S. has set a target to produce 50m tonnes of clean hydrogen per year by 2050, with stepping stones of 10m tonnes by 2030 and 20m tonnes by 2040, according to the EIU.
Affordable Energy No Matter the Market
As evidenced by this factsheet and others like it, energy production and procurement is a complicated yet necessary game for your business and the economy at large.
Working with an energy procurement partner means you can focus more on making sales and winning smiles while we keep the lights on.
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