June 16, 2010

 

Worldwide wind power generation exceeded 200 billion kilowatthours in 2008, which is equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of over 18 million average households in the United States. Wind generation increased by about 25% from 2007 to 2008, and has more than tripled since 2003.

June 07, 2010

 

Americans used renewable energy sources — water (hydroelectric), geothermal, wind, sun (solar), and biomass — to meet about 7% of our total energy needs in 2008.

April 15, 2010

 

Greenhouse gases trap heat from the sun and warm the planet's surface. Of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, 87% are related to energy consumption. Since 1990, greenhouse gas emissions in the United States have grown by about 1% per year. In 2005, about 21% of the world's total energy-related carbon dioxide was emitted by the United States.

February 25, 2010

 

Due to its relatively low cost and abundance, coal is used to generate about half of the electricity consumed in the United States. Coal is the largest domestically-produced source of energy. Coal use, however, results in higher amounts of carbon dioxide per unit of energy than the use of oil or natural gas.

February 01, 2010

 

A cap-and-trade program is designed to reduce emissions of a pollutant by placing a limit (or cap) on the total amount of emissions. The cap is implemented through a system of allowances that can be traded to minimize costs to affected sources. Cap-and-trade programs for greenhouse gas emissions would increase the costs of using fossil fuels.

December 14, 2009

 

There are currently 104 commercial nuclear reactors at 65 nuclear power plants in 31 States. Since 1990, the share of the Nation's total electricity supply provided by nuclear power generation has averaged about 20%, with the level of nuclear generation growing at roughly the same rate as overall electricity use. Between 1985 and 1996, 34 new reactors were placed in service. In addition, nuclear generation has increased as a result of higher utilization of existing capacity and from technical modifications to increase nuclear plant capacity (expressed in megawatts). In response to incentives provided by the Energy Policy Act of 2005, nuclear power output is expected to grow, but at a slightly lower rate than total electricity generation.

December 14, 2009

 

To compare or aggregate energy consumption across different energy sources like oil, natural gas, and electricity, we must use a common unit of measure. This is similar to calculating your food energy intake by adding up the calories in whatever you eat.

December 11, 2009

 

On an annual basis from 2003 to 2008, the United States imported between 13% and 16% of its natural gas requirements. Most of these imports were in gaseous form delivered by pipeline from Canada. However, natural gas imports have also come in liquid form from overseas. Between 1% and 3% of U.S. demand for natural gas was met by LNG from 2003 to 2008.

December 10, 2009

 

The United States imported about 57% of the petroleum,1 which includes crude oil and refined petroleum products, that we consumed during 2008. Nearly half of these imports came from the Western Hemisphere. Our dependence on foreign petroleum is expected to decline in the next two decades.

December 09, 2009

 

The major energy sources in the United States are petroleum (oil), natural gas, coal, nuclear, and renewable energy. The major users are residential and commercial buildings, industry, transportation, and electric power generation. The pattern of fuel use varies widely by sector. For example, oil provides 95% of the energy used for transportation, but only 1% of the energy used to generate electric power. Understanding the relationships between the different energy sources and their uses provides insights into many important energy issues.

November 20, 2009

 

Renewable portfolio standards are policies designed to increase electricity generation from renewable resources, including wind, solar, geothermal, and biomass. Many States have their own renewable portfolio standards, although currently there is no program at the National level. States with renewable portfolio programs have seen an increase in the amount of electricity generated from renewable fuels.

October 20, 2009

 

The grid of electric power lines has evolved into three large interconnected systems that move electricity around the country. Standards have been developed by the electric power industry to ensure coordination for the linked operations. Challenges facing the power grid include getting approval for corridors of land for new transmission lines within States or that cross multiple States, and the financing and constructing of new transmission lines to assure continued reliability of our electricity supply.

September 06, 2010

 

Governments of oil-rich countries have a major influence on the world supply of oil through ownership of national oil companies and, for some governments, their membership in OPEC.

September 08, 2008

 

The Federal Government spent an estimated $16.6 billion in energy-specific subsidies and support programs in Fiscal Year (FY) 2007. Energy-specific subsidies have more than doubled since FY 1999.