Connect with us

Energy

Watch the U.S. Electricity Grid Evolve Before Your Eyes

Published

on

In a previous post, we looked at the evolution of America’s energy supply, showing how the country’s energy mix has changed from 1776 until today. There were many changes in technology and society over this extended time period, and the changes are quite eye-opening. Wood dominated until steam engine technology developed, and coal took over. Then electricity was discovered, and that gave rise to generating power in all kinds of ways: nuclear, hydro, gas, wind, solar, and more.

While the magnitude of such changes is obvious over centuries, there is even a surprising number of developments just in recent decades.

The below animated .gif, which starts with data from 1990, displays the evolution of how electricity is generated in every U.S. state up until 2014.

In this stretch of just 24 years, the way we generate electricity has evolved dramatically:

Watch the U.S. Electricity Grid Evolve Before Your Eyes
Even in 2006, the country got about 50% of its electricity from coal. As we noted in our post that visualized every power plant in the United States, the share that coal now has is closer to 34%.

Why is coal declining? The surge in the use of natural gas and renewables.

Natural gas power now generates 30% of the U.S. electricity, and renewable sources such as solar and wind have grown significantly in the last decade.

In 2005, there were zero states that generated more than 10% of their electricity from renewables. Today, that number is up to 11 states.

Original graphics by: Synapse Energy, RenewEconomy

 

Click for Comments

Energy

The World’s Biggest Oil Producers in 2023

Just three countries accounted for 40% of global oil production last year.

Published

on

Donut chart showing the biggest oil producers by country in 2023.

The World’s Biggest Oil Producers in 2023

This was originally posted on Elements. Sign up to the free mailing list to get beautiful visualizations on natural resource megatrends in your email.

Despite efforts to decarbonize the global economy, oil still remains one of the world’s most important resources. It’s also produced by a fairly limited group of countries, which can be a source of economic and political leverage.

This graphic illustrates global crude oil production in 2023, measured in million barrels per day, sourced from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).

Three Countries Account for 40% of Global Oil Production

In 2023, the United States, Russia, and Saudi Arabia collectively contributed 32.8 million barrels per day to global oil production.

Oil Production 2023Million barrels per day
🇺🇸 U.S.12.9
🇷🇺 Russia10.1
🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia9.7
🇨🇦 Canada4.6
🇮🇶 Iraq4.3
🇨🇳 China4.2
🇮🇷 Iran3.6
🇧🇷 Brazil3.4
🇦🇪 UAE3.4
🇰🇼 Kuwait2.7
🌍 Other22.8

These three nations have consistently dominated oil production since 1971. The leading position, however, has alternated among them over the past five decades.

In contrast, the combined production of the next three largest producers—Canada, Iraq, and China—reached 13.1 million barrels per day in 2023, just surpassing the production of the United States alone.

In the near term, no country is likely to surpass the record production achieved by the U.S. in 2023, as no other producer has ever reached a daily capacity of 13.0 million barrels. Recently, Saudi Arabia’s state-owned Saudi Aramco scrapped plans to increase production capacity to 13.0 million barrels per day by 2027.

In 2024, analysts forecast that the U.S. will maintain its position as the top oil producer. In fact, according to Macquarie Group, U.S. oil production is expected to achieve a record pace of about 14 million barrels per day by the end of the year.

Continue Reading
NOVAGOLD. Pure Gold. Precious Opportunity.

Subscribe

Popular