How much energy does the United States consume for transportation?

According to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), approximately 27% of all the energy consumed in the United States in 2022 was used for transportation (see Figure 1), with the majority of this being derived from petroleum products. Of this, gasoline is the predominant transportation fuel, accounting for 52% of total US transportation energy use (see Figure 2). Diesel fuel (distillates), used primarily by heavy duty trucks, accounts for 22%, and jet fuel at 12% are the next largest types of transportation fuel. (See also OWOE: What are the different forms of transportation fuel?).

Current trends in the industry, including improvements in gasoline engine efficiency, an increase in the number of hybrid and all-electric vehicles, the new fuel cell vehicles, development of biofuel alternatives to petroleum, and the trend to remote work have resulted in a decrease in demand for gasoline. After a century of growth, US consumption has essentially plateaued since 2007, and more recently (post covid pandemic) started to decline (see Figure 3). There are some energy experts who believe that an oil-free transportation industry in the US is possible within 2 decades. However, it is difficult to see how petroleum-based fuel can be completely replaced, in particular for transportation uses such as jet fuel which require very high energy content per pound of fuel.

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