Scientific American - USA (2019-10)

80 Scientific American, October 2019

Energy
Resource

0.01 quads 8.45 quads 27 .39 quads

Energy

Use

Some changes in 2012

and 2015 are the result of

updated calculation methods

for residential, transportation

and industrial efficiency.

–99% No change100% or more –99% No change100% or more

2008 value 2018 value

How to Read the Bar Charts

Quadrillion British thermal units (quads)

How to Read the Diagram

Energy flows from left to right.

Line thickness represents 2008 values.

Line color represents percent change

from 2008 to 2018.

(^200820132018)
Bar color represents percent change relative to 2008.
Solar (956%)0.09 0.95
(0%)8.45 8.44
Nuclear
(10%)2.45 2.69
Hydro
(396%)0.51 2.53
Wind
(–37%)0.35 0.22
Geothermal
(30%)23.84 31.00
Natural gas
(–41%)22.4213.30
Coal
(32%)3.88 5 .1 3
Biomass
(–1%)37 .1336.90
Petroleum
(–55%)0 .11 0.05
Net electricity imports
40.0838.25
Electricity
(4%)11.4 811.90
Residential
(10%)8.58 9.4 5
Commercial
(10%)23.9426.30
Industrial
(2%)27 .8628.30
Transportation
(20%)57.0768.50
(–22%) 42 .1532.70
Solar
Nuclear
Hydro
Wind
Geothermal
Natural gas
Coal
Biomass
Petroleum
Net electricity imports
Electricity
Residential
Commercial
Industrial
Transportation
(–5%)
(10%)
(10%)
(2%)
(–5%)
Energy lost,
notably to
waste heat
when converting
fuel to electricity
or motion
Energy
put to use
GRAPHIC SCIENCE
Text by Mark Fischetti | Graphic by Jan Willem Tulp
SOURCE: LAWRENCE LIVERMORE NATIONAL LABORATORY (
data
)
U.S. Energy Produced
and Consumed
(2008–2 018)
Cleaning Up
Shifts in the U.S. power supply may be sharper than you think
It can be tricky to resolve different tales that are told about
which U.S. energy sources are growing or fading. But now we
have hard numbers. Annual flowcharts from Lawrence Liver-
more National Laboratory show that over the past decade, wind
power has increased 396 percent and solar power is up 956 per-
cent. Of course, a very small share can rise by many percentage
points and still be small, but that traditional narrative about
wind and solar is nearly over: together they now provide 3.48
quads (quadrillion BTU) of electricity—more than hydropower.
The natural gas story is clearer, too: it has not surged “recently”
but rather has grown steadily for 10 years, and this trend is the
main cause of a continual decrease in coal consumption. If these
trends persist, says A.  J. Simon, Livermore’s energy group leader,
“we can ex pect our energy economy to continue to get cleaner.”