Reported by Staff

Analysts at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Livermore Labs in California have run the numbers on the U.S. energy use in 2009, and come up with similar results to those obtained in an examination of the country’s carbon emissions: energy use is dropping at a pace that is faster than would be expected based on the slowing economy alone. What’s more, the growth in renewable energy, coupled with increased
use of natural gas, is displacing significant amounts of coal.

While the country remains heavily reliant on fossil fuels, which account for nearly 80 quadrillion of the 95 quadrillion BTUs (Quads) consumed here last year, the trends revealed in the lab’s research are important.

According to the Livermore analysts, both economics and higher-efficiency appliances and vehicles helped push down our energy use last year, dropping consumption from 2008’s 99 Quads. Coal and petroleum use both declined significantly (coal was down by 10 percent), with more efficient vehicles accounting for much of the latter. Reduced electricity use accounted for much of coal’s drop, as did displacement by natural gas.

But total natural gas use also dropped, at least in part because solar, hydro, and geothermal power all increased slightly, and wind power was upped significantly. It’s now at 0.7 Quads, and on pace to clear a full Quad within the next couple of years.

Renewables and nuclear are now supplying nearly 17 percent of the country’s annual supply of energy, a portion that’s likely to grow if current trends continue. The fuel efficiency of the nation’s truck and auto fleets is projected to rise over the next several years, and the push for more large scale renewable energy projects from the White House is also certain to continue.