Throughout the past decade, the United States has been notably decreasing its use of coal, and increasing the use of natural gas and renewable energy sources for electricity generation. In 2024, natural gas was by far the largest source of electricity in the North American country, with a generation share of 43 percent. Renewable energy's share amounted to 24 percent that year.

Petroleum is the primary source of energy in the United States, with a consumption of 35.35 quadrillion British thermal units in 2024. Closely following, the U.S. had 34.2 quadrillion British thermal units of energy derived from natural gas. Energy consumption by sector in the United States Petroleum is predominantly utilized as a fuel in the transportation sector, which is also the second-largest consumer of energy in the U.S. with almost 30 percent of the country’s total energy consumption in 2024. This figure is topped only by the energy-guzzling industrial sector, a major consumer of fossil fuels such as petroleum and natural gas. Renewable energy in the United States Despite the prevalence of fossil fuels in the U.S. energy mix, the use of renewable energy consumption has grown immensely in the last decades to approximately 11 exajoules in 2023. Most of the renewable energy produced in the U.S. is derived from biomass, hydro and wind sources. In 2024, renewable electricity accounted for approximately 24 percent of the nation’s total electricity generation.

Fossil fuels remain the greatest source of electricity generation worldwide. In 2023, coal accounted for roughly 35.5 percent of the global power mix, while natural gas followed with a 23 percent share. China, India, and the United States accounted for the largest share of coal used for electricity generation. The future of renewable energy Fossil fuel use notwithstanding, the share of renewables in global electricity has seen a more pronounced year-on-year growth in recent years, following increased efforts by governments to combat global warming and a decrease in levelized costs. Projections indicate that renewables will surpass fossil fuels as the main power source by 2040. Electricity consumption in the world China is the largest electricity consumer in the world, requiring more than 8,000 terawatt-hours of electricity every year. However, this economic power accounts for the largest population in the world and its electricity consumption per capita is almost tenfold smaller than the consumption of Iceland, although the power used in this country came almost completely from clean sources.

Global primary energy consumption has increased dramatically in recent years and is projected to continue to increase until 2045. Only hydropower and renewable energy consumption are expected to increase between 2045 and 2050 and reach 30 percent of the global energy consumption. Energy consumption by country The distribution of energy consumption globally is disproportionately high among some countries. China, the United States, and India were by far the largest consumers of primary energy globally. On a per capita basis, it was Qatar, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, and Iceland to have the highest per capita energy consumption. Renewable energy consumption Over the last two decades, renewable energy consumption has increased to reach over 90 exajoules in 2023. Among all countries globally, China had the largest installed renewable energy capacity as of that year, followed by the United States.