Nearly 90 years ago, Americans began relying on natural gas more than burning wood for their energy needs. Fossil fuels have led the way ever since.
Wyoming provides a significant portion of the raw sources of energy that end up in the gas tanks of cars and in the boilers of power plants. The state provides the bulk of U.S. coal, which is burned to create electricity. It is the fourth-largest producer of natural gas and the eighth largest for crude oil, so far in 2017.
Despite the recent rise in renewable energy sources such as wind and solar, fossil fuels still account for most of the nation’s energy consumption and have done so for about a century, according to the Energy Information Administration.
The growth of renewables and changes in the power sector have affected fossil fuels’ dominance in recent years. In 2016, fossil fuels accounted for 81 percent of the energy consumed in the U.S., the lowest percentage in the past 100 years, according to the EIA.
Last year, renewables accounted for 10.5 percent of energy consumption. The last time renewable energy sources were that high was in the 1930s, when biomass energy was more common, particularly from wood-burning sources of power.
The electricity sector has played a major role in the changing energy mix, with coal consumption declining by 38 percent since 2005, according to the federal energy administration. For the last two decades, about 90 percent of coal consumption went into generating electricity. But falling natural gas prices, as well as the increase in wind and solar usage, has hurt coal’s prominence in that sector.
Natural gas consumption has risen in nine out of the last 10 years, according to the EIA.
Petroleum, still the dominant source of energy due to its role in transportation, has increased each year for the last four years. It soared ahead of other energy sources in the 1950s and has kept that lead ever since.