Oregon's Energy Trust and U.S. Energy Patterns
Abstract
The United States of America is heavily dependent on fossil fuels. The country has vast reserves of coal, and most of our natural gas comes from reserves within our borders. Although our oil reserves are still producing, they are dwindling and most of our oil is now imported. In contrast, our use of renewable energy is quite small, as shown in Fig. 1. However, this very small contribution of solar energy illustrates only our metered use; thus, solar water heating, off-grid photovoltaics (PV), passive solar heating, daylight, clotheslines and all other direct (non-electrical) uses of solar energy are excluded. Similarly, direct use of wood for heating and cooking is excluded.