power & energy
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energy
states
By Jeffrey Winters, Supplement Editor
Oil
surges, gas spikes . . . and south Carolina yawns? Well, no one likes
to pay more at the pump, but it is true that on aggregate, not every state
of the Union is as dependent on oil and natural gas as headline writers
would have you think. In fact, the sources of energy consumed in the United
States vary widely from region to region—or even state to state.
The maps on
this page are similar to the graphs printed on Election Day last November,
except that instead of electoral votes, they show energy use.
You can see consumption levels for the year 2000 of four major energy sources: petroleum, coal, natural gas, and nuclear electric power. The area of a state on a map is proportional to the energy consumed, and each map is on the same scale.
Together, the four energy sources accounted for 91.8 quadrillion Btu
of energy, or about 93 percent of all the energy consumed in 2000. (Hydroelectricity
and heat from wood or waste make up most of the remainder.) The 10 top
states in consumption of each source are labeled.
The first thing that jumps out in looking at these maps is the states
batting way over—or under—their weight. Indiana is the top
consumer of coal, Louisiana stands tall in gas, and New England, which
scarcely appears in the other maps, has a relatively large claim on oil.
On the other hand, coal is largely absent from the Pacific Coast energy
mix, as is natural gas from the Southeast. And the patchwork nature of
America's nuclear network is clearly visible—in fact, 19
states consume no nuclear electric power at all.
This means that states can be vulnerable to changes that handicap one
energy source over another. Clean air regulations that make coal use more
expensive, for example, will be felt in the Midwest and South Central
states.
Gas and oil make up more than 80 percent of consumption in Alaska, Hawaii,
Louisiana, and Texas (as opposed to the national average of 62 percent).
With oil and gas prices high, historically speaking, this dependence has
been expensive. By contrast, hydroelectric dams in Idaho and nuclear reactors
in South Carolina help them keep their level of gas and oil consumption
under 50 percent of total energy use.
With so much energy consumption locked up in expensive generating equipment
or dedicated to transportation, it's unlikely that the relative
size or composition will change much in the coming years. What's
good for gas is—and will remain—good for Louisiana. And
what's bad for coal will continue to be bad for Indiana.
© 2005 by The American Society of Mechanical Engineers