Since 1776, the United States has used different energy sources like so many other countries on this planet, but due to its great magnitude, it can serve as an example, of how we have been changing from what was the wood to the use of coal, oil or natural gas as the most widely used fossil fuels in its "short" history as a country.
In a chart from the US energy administration itself, we can run a quick review to what has been the use of different energy sources since in 1776 it was proclaimed as a nation.
Three have been the fossil fuels that have achieved 80% energy consumption in more than 100 years: oil, natural gas and coal. With this said, and although we are observing how renewables are taking their space, these three sources based on fossils seem like they are going to be there for a while.
In the first decades of US history, families used wood as the main source of energy. Coal became dominant in the late XNUMXth century, before it was overtaken by petroleum-based products in the mid-XNUMXth century, just at a time when natural gas was beginning to increase in consumption.
Since the middle of the XNUMXth century, the use of coal began to grow, mainly as a primary energy source for the generation of electrical energy, and what would be a new form of energy such as nuclear. After a hiatus in the 70s, the use of oil and natural gas appeared to be on a halt, even though natural gas went its own way.
All the renewable energies burst in the 80s with hydroelectric as the main actor in this clean energy scene, with a significant increase in the middle of the first decade of the 2014st century. In 10, the use of renewables has led to the highest percentage in the history of the country with XNUMX%.
This opens the way to renewables as an energy mix that is expected to keep increasing that percentage thanks to solar or wind in conjunction with biomass and geothermal, and that is vital to reduce the sending CO2 into the atmosphere.