Energy Usage in the United States

“The United States, and the rest of the world needs to refocus its attention to finding more renewable energy sources, replacing the inefficient, and pollutant fossil fuel sources that the United States, and the rest of the world are currently using.”

The United States consumes more energy than needed, compared to the rest of the world. However, to properly address such an issue as over consumption of energy, one first must understand what “energy” is. Energy is the ability for something to do work, create heat, or emit light. By this definition, energy can be anything from a calorie to uranium. However, for the sake of nonrenewable energy, this essay will focus on the United States’ consumption of fossil fuels, which constitutes around eighty-six percent of American energy. The major energy sources consumed in the United States are petroleum (oil), natural gas, coal, nuclear, and renewable energy. (U.S. Energy 1) That is a lot of energy, however it becomes an even larger amount when taken into consideration that even though America accounts for only five percent of the world population, it consumes twenty-four percent of the world’s energy!

The United States is the 1st largest consumer of crude oil in the world. American consumption of oil also rose last year, by 390,000 barrels a day, or 2.1 percent, to 18.9 million barrels a day. ( Norris 1) Up until 1970, the United States was producing enough oil to sustain itself. But because of the ever growing population of the United States, the United States began importing oil from other countries. Although the United States is currently importing the majority of the oil is consumes, the United States still produces around 12% of the world’s oil, majority of which is drilled onshore. The United States oil reserves amount to around 21 billion barrels of crude oil, enough to support the country’s oil use for around 3 ½ years without foreign support. Every year billions are spent on research and...