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Another Look at U.S Energy Consumption

3000 Quads

transmission line blue1 Another Look at U.S Energy Consumption

Well, after yesterday’s comparison of Texas and California, which are at the opposite ends of the spectrum regarding energy consumption per person per year, I thought I’d take it a bit further.

Here is a ranked list of 49 of the 50 states (missing Hawaii and Washington D.C. at the moment): Energy per capita with other factors, US 2009

The average for the entire U.S. was 308 mbtus (million British Thermal Units) per person per year for 2009. That compares favorably with Canada (427 mbtus  per capita) but not so well with Germany (250 mbtus).

However, there is more variation found within the United States than between the U.S. and other developed countries. New York has per capita energy consumption of 196 mbtus. Wyoming has consumption of 956 mbtus, higher than Kuwait, Qatar…

Because Germany is a well-developed, high infrastructure country that even has autobahns without speed limits, I think they could serve as a goal for U.S. energy efficiency enthusiasts such as myself. So it’s nice to begin this with the observation that nine U.S. states (Maryland, Florida, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Arizona, California, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New York) all have already achieved this target.

And there are really only 13 states with per capita energy consumption above 400 mbtus (Wyoming, Alaska, Louisiana, North Dakota, Iowa, Texas, South Dakota, Kentucky, Nebraska, Montana, Indiana, Alabama and Oklahoma).

There are some other points of interest:

  • The median household income for the 13 worst states is $46,816. The median household income for the 9 best performing states is $58,016. Those who say that rising incomes lower energy consumption may have a point, although it could be that wealthier people prefer Connecticut to North Dakota…
  • The average population density per square mile for the 13 worst states is 58.3. The average population density per square mile for the 9 top performers is 488. Urbanization is the environment’s best friend.
  • The average insolation (a measurement of how much sunlight an area receives) for the 13 worst states is 3.97. The average insolation for the 9 best performing states is 4.21.
  • The average residential electricity rates in the 13 worst states in 2010 was 9.85 cents per kilowatt hour. The average residential electricity rates in the 9 best performing states in 2010 was 15.29 cents per kilowatt hour. Incentive to conserve…

Have a look at the data and let me know what else you find that’s interesting.

State Population density (2011) Energy consumption per capita Detached Housing Median Income Ave. Insolation
 Wyoming 5.851 956 145,260 52,664 4.25
 Alaska 1.264 907 152,688 66,953 2.09
 Louisiana 105 750 1,184,167 42,492 4.76
 North Dakota 9.916 661 179,821 47,827 3.68
 Iowa 54.81 472 911,987 48,044 3.77
 Texas 98.07 456 5,171,892 48,259 4.83
 South Dakota 10.86 444 217,681 45,043 3.87
 Kentucky 110 435 1,156,003 40,072 3.9
 Nebraska 23.97 423 519,763 47,357 3.98
 Montana 6.858 422 276,433 42,322 3.96
 Indiana 181.7 409 1,802,259 45,424 3.87
 Alabama 94.65 405 1,300,272 40,489 4.34
 Oklahoma 55.22 404 1,080,624 41,664 4.36
 West Virginia 77.06 393 583,695 37,435 3.73
 Mississippi 63.5 386 791,569 36,646 3.59
 Kansas 35.09 385 818,954 47,817 4.11
 Arkansas 56.43 365 809,373 37,823 4.46
 South Carolina 155.4 347 1,078,678 42,442 4.15
 Minnesota 67.14 344 1,399,993 55,616 3.68
 Tennessee 155.4 340 1,642,085 41,725 4.04
 New Mexico 17.16 334 475,829 43,028 4.97
 Idaho 19.15 330 369,924 44,926 4.24
 Maine 43.04 327 439,459 45,734 3.82
 Ohio 281.9 315 3,221,505 45,395 3.83
 Wisconsin 105.2 309 1,531,612 49,993 3.69
88.08 inhabitants per square mile (34.01 /km2) 308
 Washington 102.6 305 1,527,867 56,548 3.53
 Missouri 87.26 304 1,679,585 45,229 4.09
 Virginia 204.5 303 1,810,353 59,330 3.9
 Georgia 169.5 301 2,107,317 47,590 4.37
 Illinois 231.5 296 2,831,011 53,966 3.72
 Colorado 49.33 290 1,122,331 55,430 4.55
 Pennsylvania 284.3 290 2,935,248 49,520 3.84
 Delaware 464.3 288 191,688 56,860 3.84
 Oregon 40.33 279 911,595 48,457 3.82
 New Jersey 1,189 275 1,794,967 68,342 3.63
 North Carolina 198.2 272 2,267,890 43,674 4.2
 Michigan 173.9 271 2,988,818 45,255 3.58
 Utah 34.3 271 520,101 55,117 4.53
 Nevada 24.8 268 432,437 53,341 5.3
 Vermont 67.73 254 193,229 51,618 3.43
 Maryland 596.3 251 1,097,673 69,272 3.98
 Florida 353.4 232 3,816,527 44,736 5.26
 New Hampshire 147 229 341,299 60,567 3.58
 Connecticut 739.1 224 816,706 67,034 3.59
 Arizona 57.05 221 1,244,172 48,745 5.38
 California 241.7 217 6,883,493 58,931 5.4
 Massachusetts 840.2 216 1,374,479 64,081 3.58
 Rhode Island 1,006 207 241,202 54,119 3.64
 New York 412.3 196 3,198,486 54,659 3.53

Original Article on 3000 Quads

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3000 Quads is about energy for the 21st century. The world’s population is now estimated to peak at between 9 and 10 billion people somewhere around 2075. If they use energy at the same rate as the average American, they will consume 3,000 quadrillion btus. That isn’t written in stone–the Danes use half as much energy per person as Americans and they have a pretty good life. The developing world could aim for a Danish lifestyle instead of Yankee over-exuberance. But if it comes to pass, then we face a dilemma. If most of that energy is provided by burning coal, we face something close to disaster. My name is Tom Fuller. I work at a solar power company called Sungevity, a premiere provider of solar power to homeowners in the United States.

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