The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported that fossil fuels provided 81% of the total US energy consumption in 2016 despite the growing weight of renewables in the domestic energy mix. The renewable share of energy consumption reached 10.5% in 2016 and is the largest amount since the 1930s, when the amount of biomass consumption was still relatively high. This growth is mainly attributable to solar and wind electricity generation, while liquid biofuel consumption also increased.
Petroleum remains the most important source of energy consumption in the US and its share increased over the past 4 years. It encompasses in particular transportation fuels. In the meantime, natural gas consumption has risen in 9 of the past 10 years.
The EIA also reported a significant drop in coal consumption for 2016 (-9%), which is in line with 2015 trend (-14%). In average, coal consumption has decreased by 38% since 2005. Around 90% of this amount feeds the US power sector.
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