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Visualizing Energy

visualizingenergy.org

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Title: Electrification of the United States economy, 1920–2021

Time span: 1920-2021
    
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Variable: 
Primary energy use in the United States

Source: 
O'Connor, Peter A., and Cutler J. Cleveland. 2014. "U.S. Energy Transitions 1780–2010" Energies 7, no. 12: 7955-7993. https://doi.org/10.3390/en7127955

Source link: 
https://doi.org/10.3390/en7127955

Data accessed: 
not applicable

Description: 
This series report primary energy, which is defined as energy stocks and flows in nature before they are transformed by humans into more useful forms. From 1949 forward, O'Connor and Cleveland (2014) use data on primary energy use from the energy accounts of the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) (https://www.eia.gov/). I modified their series on electricity generation from primary sources (nuclear, solar, hydro, wind, and geothermal). I use the energy content of the electricity generated from those sources (1 kWh = 3412 Btu = 3,600,000 joules) rather than the so-called "fossil fuel equivalency approach." See the EIA link below for discussion of those approaches.

O'Connor and Cleveland describe the methods used to estimate energy use prior to 1950 from a variety of primary and secondary sources. Readers interested in specific details should consult O'Connor's (2014) PhD Dissertation. That work follows the general methodology developed by Gales et al. (2007) for Sweden, Holland, Italy, and Spain.


Additional links: 
U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA): "EIA offers two approaches to compare renewable electricity generation with other sources," August 22, 2019, https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=41013O’Connor, Peter Albert. “Aspects of Energy Transitions: History and Determinants.” PhD Dissertation, Boston University, 2014. OpenBU. https://hdl.handle.net/2144/14287Gales, Ben, Astrid Kander, Paolo Malanima, and Mar Rubio. “North versus South: Energy Transition and Energy Intensity in Europe over 200 Years.” European Review of Economic History 11, no. 2 (August 1, 2007): 219–53. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1361491607001967.
            
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Variable: 
Energy sources used to generate electricity in the United States

Source: 
1949-2021: U.S. Energy Information Administration, "Consumption of fuels used to generate electricity"

Source link: 
https://www.eia.gov/electricity/

Data accessed: 
2022-11-01

Description: 
The EIA publishes data reported in EIA-923 Power Plant Operations Report. This report collects information from regulated and unregulated electric power plants in the United States. Data collected include electric power generation, energy source consumption, end of reporting period fossil fuel stocks, as well as the quality and cost of fossil fuel receipts.

Additional links: 
None
            
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Variable: 
Energy sources used to generate electricity in the United States

Source: 
1920-1948: U.S. Bureau of the Census, "Bicentennial Edition: Historical Statistics of the United States, Colonial Times to 1970," Series S32-43, S95-107

Source link: 
https://www.census.gov/library/publications/1975/compendia/hist_stats_colonial-1970.html

Data accessed: 
2022-11-01

Description: 
The Bureau of Census series relies principally on monthly and annual reports from the United States Federal Power Commission (FPC) on the fuel consumption of electric power plants. In 1977 the FPC was replaced by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).

Additional links: 
None