Our Energy Use

Have you ever thought about how much energy you use every day? To make wise use of energy, you need to know how much energy you use, and for what purposes. This will help you use the energy you need each day more effectively. This section provides an overview of how much energy we use and why.

As we have seen, it takes a lot of effort to find energy resources, convert them into the fuels we use each day, and bring them to our home or neighborhood fueling station. As our population grows, and the world develops, we will need ever more energy to enhance the quality of life for the world’s population. Future generations will also want access to energy.

Fuels for getting around: According to the Department of Energy, 28 percent of the energy we use in the U.S. is for getting around. Personal vehicles - cars and light trucks - account for 63 percent of transportation fuel use. Buses and trains account for only 3 percent of energy for transportation. Airplanes use another 9 percent. The rest of the transportation energy is used by businesses to move goods around the country.

Can you think of ways to reduce your use of transportation fuels? Some simple steps, like keeping our vehicles properly tuned, driving the speed limit, keeping tires properly inflated, and avoiding quick starts and stops can reduce our energy use by 20 percent! By combining car trips together, instead of making lots of separate trips, we can save even more. Also, we haul around a lot of stuff in our cars that we may not need. This extra weigh decreases the fuel efficiency. Check to see whether walking, riding a bike, or taking public transportation is an option for some trips. And sometimes just a phone call can save a trip in the car!

Fuels for the home: According to the Department of Energy, 21 percent of the energy we use in the U.S. is for the home. 47 percent of this home energy use is for heating the house. Another 17 percent of home energy use is for hot water for washing and bathing. A lot of energy goes into heating. Lighting, appliances, and refrigeration take 29 percent of our home energy use, with the remaining 6 percent used for cooling the home. Can you think of ways to reduce your use of energy at home?

A lot of home energy is wasted because many homes are not properly insulated. By taking steps like increasing insulation in the attic, weather stripping doors and windows, keeping shades pulled in the summer heat and open to get sun inside during the winter can help reduce the amount of energy use. Buying energy efficient appliances when the old ones wear out is a great way to save on electricity. Changing to compact fluorescent lighting can also reduce energy costs. Even vegetation can be used to block the sun in the summer but when the leaves are gone, let the sun shine in during the winter. Turn lights, computers, TVs and other appliances off when not in use!

Our Personal Energy Use: How much energy do we individually use each year? The best way to find out is to add up the monthly electric, gasoline, and natural gas bills. These bills will indicate how much energy is used by the family.

According to the Department of Energy, the 304 million people in the U.S. use 100 Quadrillion Btu of energy each year for transportation, residential, and commercial/industrial use.  That’s 330 million Btu of energy per person per year, or 84,000,000 kilocalories a year. The average person eats 730,000 kilocalories a year, so we use over 100 times more energy every year for our homes, businesses, and getting around than we take in as food.  This is a lot of energy, 6 times more than the world average.  But this energy also provides for our high quality of life here in the U.S.