Energy in The United States - Fossil-fuel Equivalency

Fossil-fuel Equivalency

The total energy consumption reported above from the Annual Energy Review has been adjusted by a fossil-fuel equivalency factor in order to estimate how much oil would be required to supply all of the energy used. While there is 3,412 Btu per kWh, a factor of 10,460 Btu/kWh was used for nuclear and 9,760 Btu/kWh for renewable energy, for 2010, to reflect how much oil would be required. This inflates the reported total energy consumption, and roughly triples the apparent share from non-fossil fuel sources. As oil is less important, this adjustment may be removed, as is largely the case in other countries.