Section 2. Energy consumption by sector

Monthly Energy Review, June, 2004

U.S. total energy consumption in March 2004 was 8.5 quadrillion Btu, slightly higher than in March 2003.

Residential sector total consumption was 1.9 quadrillion Btu in March 2004, 4 percent above the March 2003 level. The sector accounted for 22 percent of total energy consumption.

Commercial sector total consumption was 1.5 quadrillion Btu in March 2004, 1 percent lower than the March 2003 level. The sector accounted for 18 percent of total energy consumption.

Industrial sector total consumption was 2.8 quadrillion Btu in March 2004, 3 percent higher than the March 2003 level.

The sector accounted for 33 percent of total energy consumption.

Transportation sector total consumption was 2.2 quadrillion Btu in March 2004, 2 percent higher than the March 2003 level. The sector accounted for 27 percent of total energy consumption.

Electric power sector primary consumption was forecast as 3.0 quadrillion Btu in March 2004, slightly higher than the March 2003 level. Fossil fuels accounted for 68 percent of all primary energy consumed by the electric power sector; nuclear electric power 21 percent; and renewable energy 11 percent.

Energy Consumption by Sector

Most of the data in this section of the Monthly Energy Review (MER) is developed from a group of energy-related surveys, typically called "supply surveys," conducted by the Energy Information Administration (EIA). Supply surveys are directed to suppliers and marketers of specific energy sources. They measure the quantities of specific energy sources produced, or the quantities supplied to the market, or both. The data obtained from EIA's supply surveys are integrated to yield the summary consumption statistics published in this section (and in Section 1) of the MER.

Users of EIA's energy consumption statistics should be aware of a second group of energy-related surveys, typically called "consumption surveys." Consumption surveys gather information on the types of energy consumed by end users of energy, along with the characteristics of those end users that can be associated with energy use. For example, the Manufacturing Energy Consumption Survey belongs to the consumption survey group because it collects information directly from end users (the manufacturing establishments). There are important differences between the supply and consumption surveys that need to be taken into account in any analysis that uses both data sources. For information on those differences, see Energy Consumption by End-Use Sector, A Comparison of Measures by Consumption and Supply Surveys, DOE/EIA-0533, Energy Information Administration, Washington, DC, April 6, 1990.

Note 1. Energy Consumption:

Primary Consumption: Consumption in the five energy-use sectors (residential, commercial, industrial, transportation, and electric power) consists of fossil fuels (coal, natural gas, and petroleum), some secondary energy derived from fossil fuels (supplemental gaseous fuels and coal coke net imports), nuclear electric power, pumped-storage hydroelectric power, renewable energy, and net imports of electricity. Renewable energy consumption is the end-use consumption of wood, waste, alcohol fuels, geothermal heat pump and direct use energy, solar thermal direct use and photovoltaic energy and net electricity generation from conventional hydroelectric power, wood, waste, geothermal, solar, and wind.

Total Consumption: In addition to primary consumption in the four end-use sectors (residential, commercial, industrial, and transportation), total consumption also includes retail sales of electricity and electrical system energy losses (see Note 12).

Note 2. Energy-Use Sectors: The five major economic sectors--residential, commercial, industrial, transportation, and electric power--are called energy-use sectors in this report. The first four sectors comprise the end-use sectors, that is, the point of final consumption of the energy. Energy consumption is assigned to the five energy-use sectors, as closely as possible, by the following definitions:

Residential Sector--An energy-consuming sector that consists of living quarters for private households. Common uses of energy associated with this sector include space heating, water heating, air conditioning, lighting, refrigeration, cooking, and running a variety of other appliances. The residential sector excludes institutional living quarters. For further explanation see: http://www.eia.doe.gov/neic/datadefinitions/Guideforwebres.htm.> Commercial Sector--An energy-consuming sector that consists of service-providing facilities and equipment of: businesses; Federal, State, and local governments; and other private and public organizations, such as religious, social, or fraternal groups. The commercial sector includes institutional living quarters. Common uses of energy associated with this sector include space heating, water heating, air conditioning, lighting, refrigeration, cooking, and running a wide variety of other equipment. Note: This sector includes generators that produce electricity and/or useful thermal output primarily to support the activities of the abovementioned commercial establishments.