Wrenched asked:
I’m curious how many of us know which fuel is used to produce the electric power supplied to our homes. Which of the 6 fuels listed below creates the power to your home? (The percentages listed are the percentages of fuels used in the United States, the percentages in your country may be different.)
I’m curious how many of us know which fuel is used to produce the electric power supplied to our homes. Which of the 6 fuels listed below creates the power to your home? (The percentages listed are the percentages of fuels used in the United States, the percentages in your country may be different.)
1. Fuel Oil, 1.6%
2. Non-Hydro Renewable and Other, 3.2% (includes generation from solar, wind, geothermal, biomass (agricultural waste, municipal solid waste, landfill gas recovery, wood, pitch), hydrogen, batteries, chemicals, non-wood waste, purchased steam, sulfur and miscellaneous technologies),
3. Hydropower 5.8%
4. Nuclear, 19.4%
5. Natural Gas, 21.4%
6. Coal, 48.6%
Thank you for your answer.
In the back of my monthly electric bill the electric company lists a table showing comparison of their fuel source vs. average in Texas). Natural gas and coal remains the highest percentage of fuel source to generate electricity in the States. There has been a trend to build more natural gas power plants because of environmental regulations and economic reasons at one point. We will see more electric companies invest into alternative energy source in the near future. Today, because of deregulation, one can choose the electric company. Some companies sells green energy exculsively (wind power, etc.) and other have included green energy as option for their customers to choose from. The price of green electricity varies from state to state. In some places it’s more expensive than “conventional” plan whereas other cases it can be cheaper.
Here in the coastal area of Texas I live in, it is mostly natural gas, but there are a few nuclear plants in this region (but one was shut down, I heard, and may not soon or ever be back up and running).
Hi Wrenched,
A good question. Since all the electircal power that runs your home comes from a grid it is actually a mix (in most cases) of all of those fuels. Unless you personally supply your own energy via a generator or green sources then your energy comes from the grid in your area.
In CT the report for 2007 had the following percentages for fuel sources that provide power to the electrical grid in the state:
Nuclear = 48.93%
Natural Gas = 30.04%
Coal = 11.17%
Petroleum = 4.99%
Renewable = 3.65%
Other = 2.23%
So to answer your question, all of the fuel sources you mentioned power my home.