Energy use in the US in 2009

8 April 2011 Geoff Zeiss

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
Geoff Zeiss

Geoff Zeiss

Geoff Zeiss has more than 20 years experience in the geospatial software industry and 15 years experience developing enterprise geospatial solutions for the utilities, communications, and public works industries. His particular interests include the convergence of BIM, CAD, geospatial, and 3D. In recognition of his efforts to evangelize geospatial in vertical industries such as utilities and construction, Geoff received the Geospatial Ambassador Award at Geospatial World Forum 2014. Currently Geoff is Principal at Between the Poles, a thought leadership consulting firm. From 2001 to 2012 Geoff was Director of Utility Industry Program at Autodesk Inc, where he was responsible for thought leadership for the utility industry program. From 1999 to 2001 he was Director of Enterprise Software Development at Autodesk. He received one of ten annual global technology awards in 2004 from Oracle Corporation for technical innovation and leadership in the use of Oracle. Prior to Autodesk Geoff was Director of Product Development at VISION* Solutions. VISION* Solutions is credited with pioneering relational spatial data management, CAD/GIS integration, and long transactions (data versioning) in the utility, communications, and public works industries. Geoff is a frequent speaker at geospatial and utility events around the world including Geospatial World Forum, Where 2.0, MundoGeo Connect (Brazil), Middle East Spatial Geospatial Forum, India Geospatial Forum, Location Intelligence, Asia Geospatial Forum, and GITA events in US, Japan and Australia. Geoff received Speaker Excellence Awards at GITA 2007-2009.

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