Energy: Selected Facts and Numbers

Energy: Selected Facts and Numbers
Updated August 8, 2008
Carol Glover
Information Resources Specialist
Knowledge Services Group
Carl E. Behrens
Specialist in Energy Policy
Resources, Science, and Industry Division



Energy: Selected Facts and Numbers
Summary
Energy supplies and prices are major economic factors in the United States, and
energy markets are volatile and unpredictable. Thus, energy policy has been a
recurring issue for Congress since the first major crisis in the 1970s. As an aid in
policy making, this report presents a current and historical view of the supply and
consumption of various forms of energy.
The historical trends show petroleum as the major source of energy, rising from
about 38% in 1950 to 45% in 1975, then declining to about 40% in response to the
energy crisis of the 1970s. Significantly, the transportation sector has been and
continues to be almost completely dependent on petroleum, mostly gasoline.
Natural gas followed a similar pattern at a lower level, increasing its share of
total energy from about 17% in 1950 to more than 30% in 1970, then declining to
about 20%. Consumption of coal in 1950 was 35% of the total, almost equal to oil,
but it declined to about 20% a decade later and has remained at about that proportion
since then. Coal currently is used almost exclusively for electric power generation.
Nuclear power started coming online in significant amounts in the late 1960s,
and by 1975, in the midst of the oil crisis, was supplying 9% of total electricity
generation. However, increases in capital costs, construction delays, and public
opposition to nuclear power following the Three Mile Island accident in 1979
curtailed expansion of the technology, and many construction projects were
cancelled. Continuation of some construction increased the nuclear share of
generation to 20% in 1990, where it remains currently. The first new reactor license
applications in nearly 30 years were recently submitted, but no new plants are
currently under construction or on order.
Construction of major hydroelectric projects has also essentially ceased, and
hydropower’s share of electricity generation has gradually declined, from 30% in
1950 to 15% in 1975 and less than 10% in 2000. However, hydropower remains
highly important on a regional basis.
Renewable energy sources (except hydropower) continue to offer more potential
than actual energy production, although fuel ethanol has become a significant factor
in transportation fuel, and wind power has recently grown rapidly. Conservation and
energy efficiency have shown significant gains over the past three decades and offer
encouraging potential to relieve some of the dependence on imports that has caused
economic difficulties in the past, as well as the present.
After an introductory overview of aggregate energy consumption, this report
presents detailed analysis of trends and statistics regarding specific energy sources:
oil, electricity, natural gas, coal and renewable energy. A section on trends in energy
efficiency is also presented.



Contacts
Area of ExpertiseNameTelephone
Introduction and GeneralCarl Behrens7-8303
OilRobert Pirog7-6847
Energy TaxesSalvatore Lazzari7-7825
ElectricityAmy Abel7-7239
Other Conventional Energy Sources
Natural GasRobert Pirog7-6847
CoalStan Kaplan7-9529
Nuclear EnergyMark Holt7-1704
Conservation and Energy Efficiency
Renewable EnergyFred Sissine7-7039
Larry Parker7-7238
Brent Yacobucci7-9662
CAFE Standards (vehicle fuel economy)Brent Yacobucci7-9662
Robert Bamberger7-7240
Statistics, Tables, and FiguresCarol Glover7-7353



Contents
In troduction ......................................................1
Oil .............................................................5
Petroleum Consumption, Supply, and Imports.......................6
Petroleum and Transportation....................................9
Petroleum Prices: Historical Trends..............................10
Gasoline Taxes...........................................13
Electricity .......................................................13
Other Conventional Energy Resources................................17
Natural Gas.................................................17
Coal .......................................................21
Renewable Energy............................................22
Conservation and Energy Efficiency..................................23
Vehicle Fuel Economy.........................................23
Energy Consumption and GDP..................................24
Major Statistical Resources.........................................26
Links to Sources..............................................26
Other Sources................................................27
List of Figures
Figure 1. Per Capita Energy Consumption in Transportation and Residential
Sectors, 1949-2007............................................3
Figure 2. Electricity Use: Commercial, Residential, and Industrial Sectors,
1949-2007 ...................................................3
Figure 3. U.S. Energy Consumption, 1950-2006..........................5
Figure 4. World Crude Oil Reserves, 1973, 1991 and 2005.................6
Figure 5. U.S. Dependence on Imported Petroleum, 1960-2007..............8
Figure 6. Transportation Use of Petroleum, 1950-2007...................10
Figure 7. Nominal and Real Price of Crude Oil, 1968-2007 and
January 2008................................................11
Figure 8. Nominal and Real Price of Gasoline, 1950-2007 and
February 2008...............................................12
Figure 9. Consumer Spending on Oil as a Percentage of GDP, 1970-2004....13
Figure 10. Electricity Generation by Source, Selected Years, 1950-2005......14
Figure 11. Changes in Generating Capacity, 1995-2005...................15
Figure 12. Price of Retail Residential Electricity, 1960-2006...............17
Figure 13. Natural Gas Prices to Electricity Generators. 1978-2007..........19
Figure 14. Monthly and Annual Residential Natural Gas Prices, 2000 -
December 2007..............................................20
Figure 15. Annual Residential Natural Gas Prices, 1973-2006..............20
Figure 16. U.S. Ethanol Production, 1980-2007.........................22
Figure 17. Wind Electricity Net Generation, 1989-2007...................23
Figure 18. Motor Vehicle Fuel Efficiency Rates, 1973-2004...............24



Figure 20. Change in Oil and Natural Gas Consumption and Growth in GDP,
1973-2005 ..................................................26
List of Tables
Table 1. U.S. Energy Consumption, 1950-2007..........................2
Table 2. Energy Consumption in Quads and Percentage of Total, 1950-2006...4
Table 3. Petroleum Consumption by Sector, 1950-2007....................7
Table 4. U.S. Petroleum Production, 1950-2007..........................8
Table 5. Transportation Use of Petroleum, 1950-2007.....................9
Table 6. Electricity Generation by Region and Fuel, 2005.................16
Table 7. Natural Gas Consumption by Sector, 1950-2006.................18
Table 8. Coal Consumption by Sector, 1950-2007.......................21



Energy: Selected Facts and Numbers
Introduction
Tracking changes in energy activity is complicated by variations in different
energy markets. These markets, for the most part, operate independently, although
events in one may influence trends in another. For instance, oil price movement can
affect the price of natural gas, which then plays a significant role in the price of
electricity. Since aggregate indicators of total energy production and consumption
do not adequately reflect these complexities, this compendium focuses on the details
of individual energy sectors. Primary among these are oil, particularly gasoline for
transportation, and electricity generation and consumption. Natural gas is also an
important energy source, for home heating as well as in industry and electricity
generation. Coal is used almost entirely for electricity generation, nuclear and
hydropower completely so.
Renewable sources (except hydropower) continue to offer more potential than
actual energy production, although fuel ethanol has become a significant factor in
transportation fuel, and wind power has recently grown rapidly. Conservation and
energy efficiency have shown significant gains over the past three decades, and offer
encouraging potential to relieve some of the dependence on imports that has caused
economic difficulties in the past as well as the present.
To give a general view of energy consumption trends, Table 1 shows
consumption by economic sector — residential, commercial, transportation, and
industry — from 1950 to the present. To supplement this overview, some of the
trends are highlighted by graphs in Figures 1 and 2.
In viewing these figures, a note on units of energy may be helpful. Each source
has its own unit of energy. Oil consumption, for instance, is measured in million1
barrels per day (mbd), coal in million tons per year, natural gas in trillion cubic feet
(tcf) per year. To aggregate various types of energy in a single table, a common
measure, British Thermal Unit (Btu), is often used. In Table 1, energy consumption
by sector is given in units of quadrillion Btus per year, or “quads,” while per capita
consumption is given in million Btus (MMBtu) per year. One quad corresponds to
one tcf of natural gas, or approximately 50 million tons of coal. One million barrels
per day of oil is approximately 2 quads per year. One million Btus is equivalent to
approximately 293 kilowatt-hours (kwh) of electricity.


1 Further complications can result from the fact that not all sources use the same
abbreviations for the various units. The Energy Information Administration (EIA), for
example, abbreviates “million barrels per day” as “MMbbl/d” rather than “mbd.” For a list
of EIA’s abbreviation forms for energy terms, see
[ ht t p: / / www.ei a.doe.gov/ nei c/ a-z/ a-z_abbr ev/ a -z_abbr ev.ht ml ] .

Table 1 shows that total U.S. energy consumption almost tripled since 1950,
with the industrial sector, the heaviest energy user, growing at the slowest rate. The
growth in energy consumption per capita (i.e., per person) over the same period was
about 50%. As Figure 1 illustrates, much of the growth in per capita energy
consumption took place before 1970.
Table 1 does not list the consumption of energy by the electricity sector
separately because it is both a producer and a consumer of energy. For the
residential, commercial, industrial, and transportation sectors, the consumption
figures given are the sum of the resources (such as oil and gas) that are directly
consumed plus the total energy used to produce the electricity each sector consumed
— that is, both the energy value of the kilowatt-hours consumed and the energy lost
in generating that electricity. As Figure 2 demonstrates, a major trend during the
period was the electrification of the residential and commercial sectors and, to a
lesser extent, industry. By 2007, electricity (including the energy lost in generating
it) represented about 70% of residential energy consumption, about 80% of
commercial energy consumption, and about a third of industrial energy
consumption.2
Table 1. U.S. Energy Consumption, 1950-2007
Energy Consumption by SectorPopulationConsumption Per
(Quadrillion Btu)(million)Capita (MMBtu)
Resi d. Com m . Indus. Trans. Tot al Resi d. Trans. Tot a l
1950 6.0 3 .9 16.2 8 .5 34.6 151.3 39.7 56.1 228.7
1955 7.3 3 .9 19.5 9 .6 40.2 165.1 44.2 57.9 243.6
1960 9.1 4 .6 20.8 10.6 45.1 179.3 50.6 59.1 251.4
1965 10.7 5 .8 25.1 12.4 54.0 193.5 55.3 64.3 279.2
1970 13.8 8 .3 29.6 16.1 67.8 203.3 67.9 79.2 333.7
1975 14.8 9 .5 29.4 18.2 72.0 215.5 68.9 84.7 334.2
1980 15.8 10.6 32.1 19.7 78.1 226.5 69.7 86.9 344.8
1985 16.1 11.4 28.9 20.1 76.5 237.9 67.6 84.4 321.5
1990 17.0 13.3 31.9 22.4 84.7 248.8 68.4 90.1 340.3
1995 18.6 14.7 34.0 23.8 91.2 266.3 69.8 89.6 342.4
2000 20.5 17.2 34.8 26.6 99.0 281.4 72.8 94.3 351.7
2001 20.1 17.1 32.8 26.3 96.3 285.2 70.5 92.1 337.7
2002 20.9 17.4 32.8 26.8 97.9 288.1 72.4 93.2 339.6
2003 21.2 17.4 32.7 27.0 98.2 290.8 72.9 92.9 337.7
2004 21.2 17.7 33.6 27.9 100.4 293.6 72.1 95.0 341.8
2005 21.7 17.9 32.5 28.1 100.5 296.5 73.2 95.7 339.0
2006 20.9 17.7 32.5 28.8 99.9 299.4 69.7 96.0 333.5
2007 21.8 18.4 32.5 29.0 101.6 301.6 72.1 96.0 336.8
Source: Energy Information Administration (EIA), Annual Energy Review 2006, Tables 2.1a and D1
and Monthly Energy Review April 2008, Table 2.1. Per capita data calculated by CRS.


2 In calculating these percentages, “electric energy consumption” includes both the energy
value of the kilowatt-hours consumed and the energy lost in generating that electricity.

Figure 1. Per Capita Energy Consumption in Transportation
and Residential Sectors, 1949-2007
Source: EIA, Annual Energy Review 2006, Tables 2.1a and D1 and Monthly
Energy Review, April 2008, Table 2.1. and U.S. Census Bureau, 2007
Population Estimates. Per capita data calculated by CRS.
Figure 2. Electricity Use: Commercial, Residential, and
Industrial Sectors, 1949-2007


Source: EIA, Annual Energy Review 2006, Table 2.1a and Monthly Energy
Review, April 2008, Table 2.1 Percentages calculated by CRS.

Consumption of major energy resources — petroleum, natural gas, and coal —
is presented in Table 2 and Figure 3. The historical trends show that petroleum has
been and continues to be the major source of energy, rising from about 38% in 1950
to 45% in 1975, then declining to about 40% in response to the energy crisis of the
1970s. Natural gas followed a similar pattern at a lower level, increasing its share of
total energy from about 17% in 1950 to over 30% in 1970, then declining to about
20%. Consumption of coal in 1950 was 35% of the total, almost equal to oil, but it
declined to about 20% a decade later and has remained at about that proportion since
then.
Table 2. Energy Consumption in Quads and Percentage of Total,
1950-2006
PetroleumNatural GasCoalOtherTotal
Quads % Quads % Quads % Quads %
1950 13.3 38.4 6 .0 17.2 12.3 35.7 3 .0 8.6 34.6
1955 17.3 43.0 9 .0 22.4 11.2 27.8 2 .8 7.0 40.2
1960 19.9 44.1 12.4 27.5 9 .8 21.8 3 .0 6.5 45.1
1965 23.2 43.0 15.8 29.2 11.6 21.4 3 .4 6.4 54.0
1970 29.5 43.4 21.8 32.1 12.3 18.1 4 .3 6.4 67.8
1975 32.7 45.4 19.9 27.7 12.7 17.6 6 .6 9.2 72.0
1980 34.2 43.7 20.4 26.1 15.4 19.7 8 .3 10.6 78.3
1985 30.9 40.4 17.8 23.3 17.5 22.8 10.4 13.5 76.6
1990 33.6 39.7 19.7 23.3 19.2 22.6 12.3 14.5 84.7
1995 34.6 37.9 22.8 25.0 20.1 22.0 13.7 15.0 91.2
2000 38.4 38.8 23.9 24.2 22.6 22.8 14.0 14.2 99.0
2005 40.4 40.0 22.8 22.6 22.8 22.6 14.6 14.5 101.0
2006 39.8 39.8 22.4 22.4 22.5 22.5 15.1 15.1 99.9
Source: EIA, Annual Energy Review 2006, Table 1.3. Percentages calculated by CRS.



Figure 3. U.S. Energy Consumption, 1950-2006


120
100
80
Other
60
Pe tro l e um
40
Natural Gas
20
Co a l
0
1950 1955 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2006
Note: This figure shows data at five year intervals except for the last interval which is six years.
Source: EIA, Annual Energy Review 2006, Table 1.3.
Oil
About 40% of the energy consumed in the United States is supplied by
petroleum, and that proportion has remained approximately the same since 1950, as
the data in the previous section show. Also unchanged is the almost total dependence
of the transportation sector on petroleum, mostly gasoline.
The perception that the world is on the verge of running out of oil, widespread
during the 1970s, has changed, however. The rapid price increases at that time, aided
by improved exploration and production technology, stimulated a global search for
oil and resulted in the discovery of large amounts of new reserves. Indeed, as
concerns about tightening supply and continually increasing prices were at a peak,
proven reserves actually increased by about 50% between 1973 and 1990. Some of
the increase was in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in Mexico, but most was located
in the region that already dominated the world oil market, the Middle East. With
prices essentially steady during the 1990s, the search for oil slowed, but additions to
reserves during the decade exceeded the amount of oil pumped out of the ground.
By 2003, improved technology for retrieving petroleum from oil sands in Canada
and, to a lesser extent, from heavy oil in Venezuela led to significant production from
these resources, and by 2005, approximately 200 billion barrels of resources from oil
sands and heavy oil were added to the total of proven world reserves, 20% of the total

1991 figure. These trends are illustrated in Figure 4.



Figure 4. World Crude Oil Reserves, 1973, 1991 and 2005


14 0 0
Far East & Oceania
12 0 0 Af r i c a
Middle East
1000Far East & Oceania
Af ri c a
Middle East
800
Far East & Oceania
600 Af r i c a
Middle East
400 Eu r as i a
Eu r o p e
Eastern Europe &Former Soviet Union
200Eastern Europe &Former Soviet Union
Western Europe
Western EuropeWestern HemisphereWestern Hemisphere
0Western Hemisphere
19 73 19 91 2005
Source: EIA, International Energy Annual, 1990 and 2005, Table 8.1 (data is from Oil and Gas
Journal and is not certified by EIA, except for the component of Western Hemisphere reserves
comprising those of the United States).
Notes: The categoriesEastern Europe and Former Soviet Union and “Western Europe,” in the data
for 1973 and 1991, were changed toEurasia” and “Europe” respectively for 2005. Seven countries
(Albania, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia) were moved from the
former to the latter.
Petroleum Consumption, Supply, and Imports
Consumption of petroleum by sector reflects a variety of trends (see Table 3).
In the residential and commercial sectors, petroleum consumption grew steadily from
1950 to 1970, while accounting for about 15% of total petroleum consumption. After
the price surge in the 1970s, consumption in those sectors declined, falling to less
than 7% of total petroleum consumption by 1995. When oil prices surged again after
2005, consumption declined further, to about 5%. Usage in the electric power sector
followed a similar but more abrupt pattern. Until 1965 only about 3% of petroleum
went to power generation. In the late 1960s efforts to improve air quality by reducing
emissions led utilities to convert a number of coal-fired powerplants to burn oil, and
many new plants were designed to burn oil or natural gas. Utilities found themselves
committed to increasing dependence on oil just at the time of shortages and high
prices; in 1975 almost 9% of oil consumption went for power production.
Consumption then fell sharply as alternate sources became available, declining to
about 2%-3% of total consumption and falling even lower after 2005 as oil prices
increased sharply.

Table 3. Petroleum Consumption by Sector, 1950-2007
(million barrels per day and percentage of total)
Residential-
Com m erci al I ndust r i al El e ct ri c Trans. Tot al
MB D % MB D % MB D % MB D % MB D
1950 1.1 16.5 % 1.8 28.0 % 0.2 3 .2 % 3 .4 51.6 % 6.5
1955 1.4 16.5 2 .4 28.1 0 .2 2.4 4 .5 52.4 8 .5
1960 1.7 17.5 2 .7 27.6 0 .2 2.5 5 .1 52.4 9 .8
1965 1.9 16.6 3 .2 27.2 0 .3 2.7 6 .0 52.5 11.5
1970 2.2 14.9 3 .8 25.9 0 .9 6.3 7 .8 52.9 14.7
1975 1.9 11.9 4 .0 24.8 1 .4 8.5 9 .0 54.9 16.3
1980 1.5 8 .9 4.8 28.3 1 .2 6.7 9 .5 55.8 17.1
1985 1.3 8 .6 4.1 25.9 0 .5 3.0 9 .8 62.7 15.7
1990 1.2 7 .2 4.3 25.3 0 .6 3.3 10.9 64.0 17.0
1995 1.1 6 .4 4.6 26.0 0 .3 1.9 11.7 65.9 17.7
2000 1.3 6 .5 4.9 24.9 0 .5 2.6 13.0 66.1 19.7
2005 1.2 5 .8 5.1 24.5 0 .5 2.6 14.0 67.1 20.8
2006 1.1 5 .2 5.1 24.8 0 .3 1.4 14.2 68.6 20.7
2007 1.1 5 .2 5.1 24.4 0 .3 1.4 14.3 68.9 20.7
Source: EIA, Annual Energy Review 2007, Tables 5.1 and 5.13a-d. Percentages calculated by CRS.
Industrial consumption of petroleum, which includes such large consumers as
refineries and petrochemical industries, has remained about 25% of total
consumption since 1970. As other sectors’ share fell, transportation, which was a
little more than half of total consumption prior to 1975, climbed to two-thirds by

2000 and continued to increase its share since then.


While petroleum consumption increased throughout the period from 1950 to the
present (except for a temporary decline following the price surge of the 1970s), U.S.
domestic production peaked in 1970 (see Table 4). The result, as shown in Figure
5, was greater dependence on imported petroleum, which rose from less than 20% in

1960 to about 60% in recent years.



Table 4. U.S. Petroleum Production, 1950-2007
(million barrels per day)
Crude OilGas LiquidsOtherTotal
48 StatesAlaskaTotal
19505.4 5.40.5 5.9
19556.8 6.80.8 7.6
19607.0 7.00.90.28.1
19657.8 7.81.20.29.2
1970 9.4 0 .2 9.6 1 .7 0.4 11.7
1975 8.2 0 .2 8.4 1 .6 0.5 10.5
1980 7.0 1 .6 8.6 1 .6 0.6 10.8
1985 7.2 1 .8 9.0 1 .6 0.6 11.1
1990 5.6 1 .8 7.4 1 .6 0.7 9 .6
1995 5.1 1 .5 6.6 1 .8 0.8 9 .1
2000 4.9 1 .0 5.8 1 .9 1.0 8 .7
2005 4.3 0 .9 5.2 1 .7 1.0 7 .9
2006 4.4 0 .7 5.1 1 .7 1.0 7 .8
2007 4.4 0 .7 5.1 1 .8 1.0 7 .9
Note: “Other” includes processing gain.
Source: EIA, Annual Energy Review 2007, Table 5.1.
Figure 5. U.S. Dependence on Imported Petroleum, 1960-2007


Source: EIA, Monthly Energy Review, March 2008, Table 3.3a, and Annual Energy Review 1986,
Table 51.

Petroleum and Transportation
Since the transportation sector is so heavily dependent on petroleum, and uses
so much of it, Table 5 and Figure 6 present a more detailed breakdown of the
various types of petroleum used.
Table 5. Transportation Use of Petroleum, 1950-2007
(million barrels per day)
Motor
YearAviationDiesel FuelGasolineOtherTotal
1950 0.1 0 .2 2.4 0 .6 3.4
1955 0.3 0 .4 3.2 0 .5 4.5
1960 0.5 0 .4 3.7 0 .4 5.1
1965 0.7 0 .5 4.4 0 .4 6.0
1970 1.0 0 .7 5.6 0 .4 7.8
1975 1.0 1 .0 6.5 0 .4 9.0
1980 1.1 1 .3 6.4 0 .7 9.5
1985 1.2 1 .5 6.7 0 .4 9.8
1990 1.5 1 .7 7.1 0 .5 10.9
1995 1.5 2 .0 7.7 0 .5 11.7
2000 1.7 2 .4 8.4 0 .5 13.0
2005 1.7 2 .9 8.9 0 .5 14.0
2006 1.7 3 .0 9.0 0 .5 14.2
2007 1.6 3 .0 9.1 0 .5 14.3
Source: EIA, Annual Energy Review 2007, Table 5.13c.
Aviation fuel includes both aviation gasoline and kerosene jet fuel. In 1950
aviation was almost entirely gasoline powered; by 2000 it was 99% jet fueled. The
growth in flying is illustrated by the fact that aviation fuel was only 3% of petroleum
consumption for transportation in 1950, but had grown to 12% in 1965 and has
maintained that share since then.
Diesel fuel consumption showed a similar dramatic increase. About 6% of total
petroleum consumption for transportation in 1950, it rose to 11% by 1975 and to
20% in recent years. Diesel fuel is used by a number of transportation sectors. Part
of the increase involved the change of railroads from coal-fired steam to diesel and
diesel-electric power. Diesel fuel is used also in the marine transportation sector, and
some private automobiles are diesel-powered. The major part of diesel fuel
consumption in transportation is by large commercial trucks. Total diesel fuel
consumption increased from about 200,000 barrels per day in 1950 to 3.0 million
barrels per day in 2007.
Most of the petroleum consumed in the transportation sector is motor gasoline.
In 1950 it was 71% of total sector petroleum consumption, and in recent years,



despite the increase in aviation fuel and diesel, it has been about 65%. Since 1950,
gasoline consumption has almost quadrupled.
Of the other petroleum products consumed in the transportation sector, the
largest is residual fuel oil, most of which is used in large marine transport.
Consumption of residual fuel oil in the transportation sector was about 500,000
barrels in 1950, and declined gradually to about 400,000 in 2000.
Figure 6. Transportation Use of Petroleum, 1950-2007


Source: EIA, Annual Energy Review 2007, Table 5.13c.
Petroleum Prices: Historical Trends
Most commodity prices are typically volatile. Because oil is widely consumed,
and is so important at all levels of the economy, its price is closely watched and
analyzed. Especially since the 1970s, when a generally stable market dominated by
a few large oil companies was broken by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting
Countries (OPEC) cartel and a relatively open world market came into being, the
price of crude oil has been particularly volatile, as illustrated in Figure 7.

Figure 7. Nominal and Real Price of Crude Oil, 1968-2007 and
January 2008


Note: Price is the Composite Crude Oil Refiner Acquisition Cost, as reported by EIA.
Source: EIA, Annual Energy Review 2006, Table 5.21 and Monthly Energy Review, March 2008,
Table 9.1.
At the consumer level, prices of products such as motor gasoline and heating oil
have reacted to price and supply disruptions in ways that have been modulated by
various government and industry policies and international events. A significant and
not often noted fact is that, like many commodities, the long-term trend in gasoline
prices, adjusted for inflation and excluding temporary surges, has been down. As
shown in Figure 8, the real price of gasoline peaked in 1980, then fell precipitously
in the mid-1980s. The recent surge in prices brought the price above the peak of
1980 (in real dollars). (For more current data on gasoline price trends, see CRS
Report RL33521, Gasoline Prices: New Legislation and Proposals, by Carl Behrens
and Carol Glover.)

Figure 8. Nominal and Real Price of Gasoline, 1950-2007 and
February 2008


Note: Average national retail price per gallon of unleaded regular gasoline, including taxes.
Source: EIA, Annual Energy Review 2006, Table 5.24 and Monthly Energy Review, March 2008,
Table 9.4.
Figure 9 illustrates the proportion of the gross domestic product (GDP)
dedicated to consumer spending on oil. The price surges in the 1970s pushed this
ratio from about 4.5% before the Arab oil embargo to about 8.5% following the crisis
in Iran late in the decade. Following that, it declined to less than 4%; during the
recent run-up of prices the trend has started back up again.

Figure 9. Consumer Spending on Oil as a Percentage of GDP, 1970-

2004


Source: EIA, Annual Energy Review, 2006, Tables 3.5 and D1.
Gasoline Taxes. The federal tax on gasoline is currently 18.4 cents per
gallon. An extensive list of the gasoline and diesel fuel tax rates imposed by each
state per gallon of motor fuel is maintained and updated by the American Petroleum
Institute (API), “Notes to State Motor Fuel Excise and Other Tax Rates,” at
[ h ttp://www.api.org/ policy/tax / stat eex cise/upload/December_2007_notes.pdf] .
Electricity
While overall energy consumption in the United States increased nearly three-
fold since 1950, electricity consumption increased even more rapidly. Annual power
generation is ten times what it was in 1950. Figure 10 illustrates the trend.

Figure 10. Electricity Generation by Source, Selected Years, 1950-

2005.


4500
3750
3000
2250
1500
750
0
19 50 19 60 19 70 19 80 19 90 20 05
Coal
OtherPetroleumNatural GasCoal
Nu cl ea r Hydroe lec tri c Coal
Source: EIA, Annual Energy Review 2005, Table 8.2a.
Throughout this period, coal was used to generate about half the rapidly
increasing amount of electricity consumed. Petroleum became briefly important as
a source of power generation in the late 1960s because it resulted in lower emissions
of air pollutants, and consumption continued in the 1970s despite the price surge
because natural gas was in short supply. By the 1980s, however, oil consumption by
utilities dropped sharply, and in 2005, less than 3% of power generation was oil-
fired.
Natural gas generation has a more complicated history. Consumption by the
electric power industry increased gradually as access by pipeline became more
widespread. With the price increase in oil in the 1970s, demand for gas also
increased, but interstate prices were regulated, and gas availability declined. In
addition, federal energy policy viewed generation of electricity by gas to be a
wasteful use of a diminishing resource. The Fuel Use Act of 1978 prohibited new
power generators from using gas and set a timetable for shutting down existing gas-
fired plants. Gas prices were later deregulated, resulting in increased production, and
the Fuel Use Act was repealed, but in the meantime generation of electricity from gas
fell from 24% in 1970 to 12% in 1985. In the 1990s gas became more popular as
technology improved, and by 2000 was supplying 16% of total electric generation.
Most capacity additions in the last decade have been gas-fired, as illustrated in
Figure 11. The increased demand contributed to high prices in 2000 that were felt
particularly in California.

Nuclear power started coming on line in significant amounts in the late 1960s,
and by 1975, in the midst of the oil crisis, was supplying 9% of total generation.
However, increases in capital costs, construction delays, and public opposition to
nuclear power following the Three Mile Island accident in 1979 curtailed expansion
of the technology, and many construction projects were cancelled. Continuation of
some construction increased the nuclear share of generation to 20% in 1990, where
it remains currently. Recently, plans have been announced for license applications
for up to 30 new reactors, and several have been submitted to the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, but no new plants are currently under construction or on order.
Construction of major hydroelectric projects has also essentially ceased, and
hydropower’s share of electricity generation has gradually declined from 30% in
1950 to 15% in 1975 and less than 10% in 2000. However, hydropower remains
highly important on a regional basis.
Figure 11. Changes in Generating Capacity, 1995-2005


120
100
80
60
40
20
0
-2 0
1995-1998 1999-2002 2003-2005
Natural GasPetroleum
Coal, Hydro, Nuclear and Other
Source: EIA, Electric Power Annual 2005, Table 2.1.
Sources of power generation vary greatly by region (see Table 6). Hydropower
in the Pacific Coast states, for instance, supplies over 40% of total generation, and
natural gas almost 35%. In 2000, the combination of a drought-caused shortage of
hydropower, a tightening of gas supply, and California’s new electric regulatory
scheme and market manipulation caused very sharp increases in electricity prices in
that region. Other regions are heavily dependent on coal generation: The north
central and east south central states, as well as the mountain states, generate more
than 60% of their electricity from coal, whereas other regions, such as New England

and the Pacific Coast, use relatively little coal. The west south central region
generates 45% of its electricity from gas. New England in the 1970s and 1980s was
heavily dependent on oil-generated power; in 2005, despite an increased use of
natural gas, oil produced 10% of New England’s power, compared with the national
average of 2.5%.
Table 6. Electricity Generation by Region and Fuel, 2005
TotalPercentage Generated by
Ge ne r a t i o n Nat u r a l
(billion kwh)RegionCoalPetroleumGasNuclearHydroOther
New England135.914.910.037.625.45.56.5
Middle Atlantic424.036.36.813.935.16.21.7
East North
Central 663.9 70.0 0 .3 4.8 22.7 0 .7 1.6
West North
Central 301.7 77.0 0 .5 3.7 14.3 2 .7 1.9
South Atlantic820.052.34.913.823.92.03.1
East South
Central 377.9 64.3 0 .6 8.4 18.4 5 .9 2.5
West South
Central 602.5 38.3 0 .4 45.2 11.2 1 .3 3.5
Mountain 346.4 64.1 0 .1 18.7 7 .5 8.3 1 .4
P acific
Co ntiguo us 347.6 4 .6 0.1 32.5 12.8 40.9 9 .1
P acific
No ncontiguo us 18.2 12.6 52.2 22.6 0 .0 8.5 4 .1
U.S. Total4,038.049.92.518.619.36.63.1
Source: EIA, Electric Power Monthly, March 2006, Tables 1.6B, 1.7B, 1.8B, 1.10B, 1.12B, and
1.13B.
Note: “Other includes renewables other than hydro, plus pumped storage, petroleum coke, gases
other than natural gas, and other sources.
The price of electricity varies by region, depending on the fuel mix and the local
regulatory system, among other factors. The nationwide average retail price to
residential consumers increased during the 1970s energy crises but has declined since
then, as indicated by Figure 12. An increase in recent years has resulted from the
expiration in numerous regions of price caps that had been previously imposed when
utilities were deregulated.



Figure 12. Price of Retail Residential Electricity, 1960-2006


Source: EIA, Annual Energy Review 2006, Table 8.10. Price includes taxes.
Other Conventional Energy Resources
Natural Gas
Consumption of natural gas was almost four times as great in 2006 as it was in
1950. Throughout the period, consumption in the residential and commercial sector
grew at about the same rate as total consumption, in the range of 30% to 40% of the
total. As shown in Table 7, consumption for electric power generation increased
from about 10% in 1950 to more than 20% at the end of the century. The proportion
of total gas consumption by the industrial sector declined correspondingly, from more
than 50% in 1950 to about 35% in recent years.

Table 7. Natural Gas Consumption by Sector, 1950-2006
Percentage Consumed by
Total
Consum pt i o n Resident ial-
(trillion cubic feet)CommercialIndustrialElectric
1950 5.77 27.5 59.4 10.9
1955 8.69 31.7 52.2 13.3
1960 11.97 34.5 48.2 14.4
1965 15.28 35.0 46.5 15.2
1970 21.14 34.2 43.8 18.6
1975 19.54 38.0 42.8 16.2
1980 19.88 37.0 41.2 18.5
1985 17.28 39.7 39.7 17.6
1990 19.17 36.6 43.1 16.9
1995 22.21 35.5 42.3 19.1
2000 23.33 35.1 39.8 22.3
2001 22.24 35.0 38.1 24.0
2002 23.01 34.9 37.5 24.6
2003 22.28 37.1 37.1 23.1
2004 22.40 35.7 37.3 24.4
2005 22.24 35.6 35.3 26.4
2006 21.86 33.3 35.4 28.6
Source: EIA, Annual Energy Review, 2006, Table 6.5.
Note: Percentages do not add to 100. The remaining amount is used in the transportation sector.
In part because of increased demand by electric utilities, natural gas prices have
become extremely volatile in recent years, as illustrated by Figure 13, which shows
high, low, and yearly average prices for gas delivered to electricity generators.



Figure 13. Natural Gas Prices to Electricity Generators. 1978-2007


Source: EIA, Monthly Energy Review, March and April 2008, Table 9.11.
Because rates for residential natural gas are regulated, they have been less
volatile than those for electric utility consumers, although considerable seasonal
fluctuations are common, as shown in Figure 14. The long-term trend in residential
natural gas prices, both in current dollars and in constant 2006 dollars, is shown in
Figure 15.

Figure 14. Monthly and Annual Residential Natural Gas Prices, 2000 -
December 2007
$18
t
$15e e
c F
b i
$12 Cu
a nd
$9o u s
h
r T
$6 pe
rs
l l a
$3D o
$0
Jan Jul Ja n Jul Jan Jul J a n Jul Ja n Jul Ja n Jul Jan Jul Ja n Jul
'00 '01 '02 '03 '04 '05 '06 '07
Monthly AveragesAnnual Averages
Source: EIA, Monthly Energy Review, March 2008, Table 9.11.
Figure 15. Annual Residential Natural Gas Prices, 1973-2006


$18
$1 5et
e
c F
$1 2ubi
Real Dollars (2006)
and C
$9ous
h
r T
$6s pe
ar
ollNominal Dollars
$3D
$0
1973 1 976 19 79 198 2 1985 1988 199 1 1994 1997 2 000 20 03 200 6
Source: EIA, Monthly Energy Review, June 2007, Table 9.11 and FY2008 Budget, Historical Tables,
Table 10.1 for GDP Chained Price Index.

Coal
Consumption of coal more than doubled since 1950, but during that period coal
as an energy source changed from a widely used resource to a single-use fuel for
generating electricity. (See Table 8.) In 1950 the residential and commercial sector
consumed almost a quarter of total coal consumed; by 1980 less than 1% of coal went
to that sector. In transportation, steam locomotives (and some coal-fired marine
transportation) consumed 13% of coal; by 1970 they were all replaced with diesel-
burning or electric engines. Industry consumed 46% of coal in 1950; by 2000 less
than 10% of coal was consumed by that sector. Meanwhile, the electric power sector,
which consumed less than 20% of the half-billion tons of coal burned in 1950, used
more than 90% of the billion-plus tons consumed in 2007.
Table 8. Coal Consumption by Sector, 1950-2007
TotalPercent Consumed by:
Consum pt i o n Resident ial-
(Million Tons)CommercialIndustrialTransportationElectric
1950 494.1 23.2 45.5 12.8 18.6
1955 447.0 15.3 48.7 3 .8 32.2
1960 398.1 10.3 44.6 0 .8 44.4
1965 472.0 5 .4 42.6 0 .1 51.9
1970 523.2 3 .1 35.7 0 .1 61.2
1975562.61.726.2 72.2
1980702.70.918.1 81.0
1985818.01.014.2 84.8
1990904.50.712.7 86.5
1995962.10.611.0 88.4
20001,084.10.48.7 90.9
20051,126.00.47.4 92.1
20061,112.30.37.4 92.3
20071,128.80.37.4 92.7
Source: EIA, Monthly Energy Review April 2008, Table 6.2.



Renewable Energy
The major supply of renewable energy in the United States, not counting
hydroelectric power generation, is fuel ethanol. Consumption in the United States
in 2007 was 6.5 billion gallons, mainly blended into E10 gasohol (a blend of 10%
ethanol and 90% gasoline). This figure represents 4.5% of the approximately 140
billion gallons of gasoline consumption in the same year. As Figure 16 indicates,
fuel ethanol production has increased rapidly in recent years, especially since the
phasing out of the fuel additive methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE).
Figure 16. U.S. Ethanol Production, 1980-2007


7,000
6,000
5,000
s
on
4,000ll
f Ga
s o
3,000llion
i
M
2,000
1,000
0
1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005
Source: Renewable Fuels Association, April 25, 2008,
[ h t t p : / / www. e t h a n o l r f a . o r g / i n d u s t r y / s t a t i s t i c s / ] .
Another rapidly growing renewable resource is wind-generated electric power,
as shown in Figure 17. The 300 trillion Btus of wind energy in 2006 is equivalent
to approximately 88 billion kilowatt hours, about 2% of the 4,000 billion kwh of total
electricity generation in that year.

Figure 17. Wind Electricity Net Generation, 1989-2007


300
250
200
tu
B
150illion
Tr
100
50
0
1989 1991 1993 1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007
Note: Wind electricity net generation converted to Btu using the fossil-fueled plants heat rate.
Source: Monthly Energy Review, March 2008, Table 10.1.
Conservation and Energy Efficiency
Vehicle Fuel Economy
Energy efficiency has been a popular goal of policy makers in responding to the
repeated energy crises of recent decades, and efforts to reduce the energy intensity of
a broad spectrum of economic activities have been made both at the government and
private level. Because of the transportation sector’s near total dependence on
vulnerable oil supplies, improving the efficiency of motor vehicles has been of
particular interest. (For an analysis of legislative policies to improve vehicle fuel
economy, see CRS Report RL33413, Automobile and Light Truck Fuel Economy:
The CAFE Standards, by Brent D. Yacobucci and Robert Bamberger.) Figure 18
illustrates the trends in this effort for passenger cars and for light trucks, vans, and
sport utility vehicles, as well as the general lack of improvement in heavy trucks.

Figure 18. Motor Vehicle Fuel Efficiency Rates, 1973-2004


25
20
Passenger Cars
(& Motorcycles till 1989)
15
Pickup Trucks, Vans & SUVs
10
Tr u ck s
5
0
1973 1978 1983 1988 1993 1998 2003
Source: EIA, Monthly Energy Review, October 2006, Table 1.9.
Further analysis by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), involving the
composition of the fleet as well as the per-vehicle fuel rates, indicates that light
vehicle fuel economy has declined on average between 1988 and 2003. This is
largely because of increased weight, higher performance, and a higher proportion of
sport utility vehicles and light trucks sold. In 2003, SUVs, pickups and vans
comprised 48% of all sales, more than twice their market share in 1983. (The EPA
study is available online at [http://www.epa.gov/otaq/fetrends.htm].)
Energy Consumption and GDP
A frequent point of concern in formulating energy policy is the relationship
between economic growth and energy use. It seems obvious that greater economic
activity would bring with it increased energy consumption, although many other
factors affecting consumption make the short-term relationship highly variable. Over
a longer period, for some energy-related activities, the relationship with economic
growth has been essentially level. For the period from 1973 to 2003, for instance,
consumption of electricity remained close to 0.45 kwh per constant dollar of GDP.
Similarly, the number of miles driven by all vehicles was close to 3 miles per
constant dollar of GDP throughout the same period.
In the case of oil and gas, however, a remarkable drop took place in the ratio of
consumption to economic growth following the price spikes and supply disruptions,
as illustrated in Figure 19. Consumption of oil and gas declined from 14,000 Btus

per constant dollar of GDP in 1973 to a little more than 8,000 in 1985, and has
continued to decline at a slower rate since then.
Figure 19. Oil and Natural Gas Consumption per Dollar of GDP, 1973-

2007


Source: EIA, Monthly Energy Review, March 2008, Table 1.7.
During the earlier period, oil and gas consumption actually declined 15% while
GDP, despite many economic problems with inflation and slow growth, was
increasing by 44% (see Figure 20). During the period 1987 to 2004, oil and gas
consumption increased by about 26%, while GDP increased 66%.

Figure 20. Change in Oil and Natural Gas Consumption and Growth
in GDP, 1973-2005


80%
70 . 6%
60%
44 .3%
40%
25 .2%GD P GD P
20%
Oil &
Natural GasConsumption
0Oil &
Natural GasConsumption
-14 .7%-20 %
197 3 -19 86 1987-2005
Source: EIA, Monthly EnergyReview, November 2006, Table 1.8.
Major Statistical Resources
Links to Sources
Most of the tables and figures in this report are derived from databases
maintained by the Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration (EIA).
If other or more detailed information is desired, the agency’s website presents the
complete text of its many statistical reports in PDF format, and also as spreadsheet
files in the format of the program Excel. Some of the more important EIA
publications are described below. Other sources used in this report are also listed.
Energy Information Administration
[ h ttp://www.eia.doe.gov]
“The agency’s responsibility is to provide timely, high-quality information and to
perform objective, credible analyses. ... EIA collects, evaluates, assembles, analyzes,
and disseminates data and information relevant to energy resources, reserves,
production, demand, technology, and related economic and statistical information.”
Annual Energy Review
[ h ttp://www.eia.doe.gov/aer/contents.html]
“The Annual Energy Review (AER) presents the Energy Information Administration’s
historical energy statistics. For many series, statistics are given for every year from

1949 through 2001. The statistics cover all major energy activities, including
consumption, production, trade, stocks [inventories], and prices, for all major energy
commodities, including fossil fuels, electricity, and renewable energy sources.”
Monthly Energy Review
[ h ttp://www.eia.doe.gov/mer/contents.html]
The Monthly Energy Review (MER) presents an overview of the EIA’s recent
monthly energy statistics. The statistics cover the major activities of U.S. production,
consumption, trade, stocks (inventories) and prices for petroleum, natural gas, coal
electricity, and nuclear energy.
International Energy Annual
[ h ttp://www.eia.doe.gov/iea/contents.html]
The International Energy Annual presents information and trends on world energy
production and consumption for petroleum, natural gas, coal, and electricity. This
report is published to keep the public and other interested parties fully informed of
primary energy supplies on a global basis.
Weekly Petroleum Status Report
[ http://www.eia.doe.gov/oil_gas / p e t r o l e u m / d a t a _publications/weekly_petroleum_
stat us_report/wpsr.html]
The Weekly Petroleum Status Report (WPSR) provides data on supply and selected
prices of crude oil and principal petroleum products in the context of historical data
and forecasts. Updated every Wednesday morning.
Electric Power Annual
[ h ttp://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/epa/epa_sum.html]
The Electric Power Annual provides a statistical review of the domestic electric
power industry for the most recent year including information on; industry capability,
generation, fossil-fuel consumption, and stocks. Data on retail sales of electricity and
average revenue per kilowatt-hour are also presented.
Other Sources
Nuclear Regulatory Commission Information Digest
[ h ttp://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/nuregs/staff/sr1350/]
Updated annually, this official NRC publication (NUREG-1350) includes general
statistics on U.S. and worldwide nuclear power production, U.S. nuclear reactors, and
radioactive waste.
American Petroleum Institute (API)
[http://api-ec.api.org/ newsplas hpage/index .cfm]
The primary trade association of the oil and natural gas industry representing more
than 400 members. Research, programs, and publications on public policy, technical
standards, industry statistics, and regulations. Includes the “Notes to State Motor Fuel
Excise and Other Tax Rates,” mentioned above.
[ h ttp://www.api.org/ policy/tax / stateex cise/upload/NOTES _TO _ S T A T E _ M O T O R
_FUEL_ EXCISE_AND_OTHER_TAX_RATES.pdf]
This site may also be accessed via the API page for Motor Fuel Taxes at
[ http://www.api.org/ statistics/fueltax es/index . cfm]



Bloomberg.Com, Market Data: Commodities, Energy Prices
[http://www.bloomberg.com/energy/index .html]
Displays four tables:
!Petroleum ($/bbl) for crude oil. The generally accepted price for
crude oil is “WTI Cushing $” which is listed fourth in the table.
!Petroleum (¢/gal) for heating oil and gasoline.
!Natural Gas ($/MMBtu)
!Electricity ($/megawatt hour)
This site is updated two to three times per day.
AAA’s Daily Fuel Gauge Report
[ h ttp://www.fuelgaugereport.com/index . asp]
At-the-pump retail fuel prices for gasoline and diesel fuel. Gives average price for
today, yesterday, a month ago and a year ago for wholesale and crude oil. Also
displays line chart showing the averages for the previous 12 months. National, state,
and metropolitan data.
International Energy Agency
[ h ttp://www.iea.org]
The International Energy Agency is an autonomous body within the Organization for
Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). It gathers and analyzes statistics
and “disseminates information on the world energy market and seeks to promote
stable international trade in energy.”
A subscription is required to access most of the information on this Website,
although a limited amount of information is available to nonsubscribers. Members
of Congress and their staff should contact CRS for a copy of anything that requires
a subscription.