Lawrence Livermore National Lab has published a beautifully simple, but comprehensive graphic showing energy sources, uses and end user efficiency. Some interesting information gleaned from this diagram about energy use in the US in 2009,
- 83% of energy was derived from fossil fuels (natural gas, coal, and petroleum)
- 17% was derived from low emission sources (wind, hydro, biomass, solar, geothermal, nuclear)
- 40% of all fuels was used for electricity production
- End user efficiency was 42%, which means 42% of all energy was delivered to the end user
- 58% of energy was lost due to inefficiency, "up the stack" in the case of thermal power generation, lost to braking and other inefficiencies in the case of transportation, and other losses
- Electricity generation efficiency was 32%
- Transportation efficiency was (assumed to be) 25%
- 27% of all energy went to transportation, almost entirely derived from petroleum, with miniscule amounts from natural gas, electricity, and biomass
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