Americans Burn 50% Less Fossil Fuel in Their Homes Than They Did 50 Years Ago

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People burn a lot much less fossil gas of their houses on common and use way more electrical energy in comparison with half a century in the past. This excellent news signifies that regardless that the “Electrify Everything” motion grew to become a number one decarbonization technique a decade or so in the past, American houses had truly been steadily electrifying lengthy earlier than that. An all-electric future is thus not solely doable, we’re effectively on our approach to attaining it.

Let’s dive into the numbers to see what occurred and analyze why this pattern, which is so good for the planet, has been happening seemingly by itself.

Much less Fossils, Extra Electrical energy

At the moment, per capita, People burn about 55% much less fossil gas of their houses than fifty years in the past.

In the meantime People use nearly 90% extra electrical energy per individual than we did within the early 70s.

Electrical energy as a proportion of per capita vitality that People use of their houses has thus almost tripled from 16% in 1972 to 45% in the present day.

What accounts for this elevated use of electrical energy and decreased fossil gas use? Why have we been electrifying all the pieces for the final 5 many years with out anybody figuring out or speaking about it?

Extra Electrical Home equipment

Properly for one, we’ve got extra devices that run on electrical energy. American houses now have 24 pieces of electronics of their houses on common. Air con is an effective instance of a family equipment that has elevated its presence in American houses dramatically over the past half century. 46% % of People houses had AC in 1976, and that number has increased to 95% in the present day.

However we must always notice that whereas there are various extra electrical home equipment within the dwelling now, they’re considerably extra environment friendly and use a fraction of the vitality of their predecessors. Electrical home equipment have achieved extra effectivity positive aspects than gasoline home equipment, as evidenced from the chart under the place gasoline furnaces have barely gotten extra environment friendly within the final 3 many years. Electrical energy would thus be even a bigger share of dwelling vitality use however for these unimaginable positive aspects in effectivity.

Pure Gasoline Use Down By 40% Since 1972

Whereas pure gasoline bans have entered the cultural wars with sensational headlines about gasoline stoves, American households have steadily been utilizing much less of this fossil gas because the Nineteen Seventies. Whole use of pure gasoline (aka methane) in houses has been flat within the US (even declining barely from its peak in 1972) for 50 years whereas the US inhabitants has grown by 60%. Per capita gasoline use has fallen by nearly 40%. Because of this with over 120 million extra People alive in the present day than 50 years in the past, we don’t use any extra pure gasoline total.

What are the explanations behind this 50-year pattern to burn much less methane in our houses? The Pure Gasoline Provide Affiliation (NGSA) thinks that gas appliances becoming more efficient is among the causes we burn 40% much less gasoline in our houses than we did 50 years in the past, although we noticed above that gasoline home equipment have hardly improved their effectivity, particularly in comparison with electrical home equipment. Our houses have also of course become significantly better insulated over the past 50 years.

NGSA additionally factors to the truth that extra houses have been constructed within the Southern components of the US and have decrease heating wants as one more reason for decreased pure gasoline utilization. The US census shows this to be true, with 40% of recent houses constructed after 1970 within the South in comparison with 28% within the many years earlier than that.

However these causes don’t inform the entire story. People use electrical energy to warmth our houses and water significantly more than 2 generations in the past, which is one other signal of a pure pattern in direction of dwelling electrification. The event of warmth pumps and warmth pump water heaters over the previous decade or two, together with states and native jurisdictions trying to decarbonize, ought to improve this pattern as effectively.

Propane & Gasoline Oil Fall Off A Cliff

Burning propane and gas oil was way more widespread 5 many years in the past and has declined considerably.

Value is a giant cause. Each propane and gas oil are delivered fuels and value considerably greater than pure gasoline or warmth pumps (Effectivity Maine has a good calculator exhibiting this). Propane is mostly used in rural areashowever warmth pumps have now proven they will do all the pieces propane used to do for a lot much less value. Gasoline oil is soiled, costly, and there may be the tiny downside of buried and leaking tanks (my state of Oregon, for instance, has 100,000 buried and potentially leaking fuel oil tanks). Gasoline oil has declined essentially the most of any fossil gas (almost 90% per capita) and is absolutely solely used within the Northeast anymore (and is declining there as effectively).

On Our Technique to An All-Electrical Future

We burn lower than half the quantity of polluting fossil fuels in our houses as our grandparents did 50 years in the past. People have steadily electrified their houses by shopping for new electrical gadgets and by changing ones that used to burn fossil fuels to electrical. On the similar time, electrical home equipment have gotten extremely extra environment friendly (thanks LEDs and warmth pumps!) Lengthy earlier than “Electrify Everything” grew to become a motion and a manner out of the local weather disaster, People had been doing simply that and exhibiting a transparent path to a submit carbon world.

My spreadsheet with EIA knowledge is here. I belief CleanTechnica’s readers to truth verify my numbers and level out any errors! Some other causes you assume People use much less fossils and extra electrical energy? Put them within the chat under.