Annual natural gas plant liquids (NGPLs) production has generally increased since 2005, coinciding with increases in natural gas production, and reached a record high in 2022. NGPLs are the largest source of U.S. hydrocarbon gas liquids (HGL) production. Annual increases in HGL production since 2008 have contributed to lower HGL prices and to increased U.S. HGL consumption and exports. Natural gas consumption has increased both in amount and share of U.S. energy consumption. In 1950, natural gas consumption was about 17% (5.97 quads) of total U.S. energy consumption, and in 2022, consumption was about 33% (33.41 quads) of total U.S. energy consumption. U.S. annual dry natural gas production has exceeded U.S. annual natural gas consumption in both volume and heat content since 2017. More efficient natural gas and oil well drilling and production techniques have resulted in increases in natural gas production from shale and tight geologic formations. The production increases generally contributed to a decline in U.S. natural gas prices through 2020, which, in turn, contributed to increases in natural gas consumption by the electric power and industrial sectors. Renewable energy production and consumption both reached record highs in 2022, at about 13% (13.40 quads) of total energy production and 13% (13.18 quads) of total energy consumption. The increases in recent years have been driven mainly by record-high solar and wind energy production and increasing hydroelectric power production. Hydropower generation in 2022 was about 4% higher than in 2021 but was about 7% lower than the 50- year annual average. Total biomass energy production and consumption in 2022 were both higher than in 2021 but
lower than the record highs in 2018. Biofuels accounted for about half of total biomass consumption in 2022. Geothermal energy use in 2022 was about 4% higher than in 2021 but about 0.3% lower than the record high in 2014. The contribution of coal to total U.S. energy consumption has declined from about 36% in 1950 to 10% in 2022, largely because the U.S. electric power sector has increased use of other energy sources and reduced coal consumption. In terms of coal’s total energy content, annual U.S. coal consumption peaked in 2005 at about 22.80 quads and production peaked in 1998 at about 24.05 quads. The energy content of total annual coal consumption has declined largely because the electric power sector has increased use of lower heat content coal. In 2022, coal consumption was about 10% (9.85 quads) of U.S. energy consumption. Coal production in 2022 was about 12.04 quads. Nuclear energy production in commercial nuclear power plants in the United States began in 1957, grew each year through 1990 as the number of nuclear power plants and nuclear electricity generation capacity increased, and generally leveled off from 2001 through 2019. Nuclear energy’s share of U.S. energy consumption peaked in 2009 at about 9% (8.36 quads). A combination of reactor upgrades and shorter refueling and maintenance cycles at nuclear power plants helped to compensate for fewer operating nuclear reactors since the 1990s. In 2020 through 2022, total annual nuclear electricity generation declined after two nuclear plants retired in 2020, one plant in 2021, and another plant in 2022. In 2022, nuclear energy’s share of total U.S. energy consumption was about 8% (8.05 quads).
12
The Business Review | October 2023
Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online