Our Electricity
Where it comes from and what you can do to conserve it.
How Much are we using?
• In 2006, the United States consumed approximately 4,064,702,000 megawatt hours of electricity.1
• 1,990,511,000 megawatts of which were generated by coal.1
• This equates to approximately 1,026,363,000 tons of coal burned.
• This is the energy equivalent of approximately 154,769,023,809 gallons of gasoline.
• These numbers increase each year.1. US Department of Energy
Coal: The Good
• Coal is the easiest, least inexpensive fuel to use to generate electricity.
• Coal power plants are the cheapest type of power plants to operate, which makes one unit of coal generated electricity cheaper than electricity from any other source
• There are HUGE coal reserves right here in the U.S. so we don’t have to rely on foreign nations for it.
Coal: The Bad• Coal releases the most
carbon dioxide per unit of energy. Carbon dioxide is blamed as the number one cause of the Global Warming theory
• Without proper filtration, coal fired power plants can release mercury, sulfur, and various other chemicals in the air.
Other Electricity Sources
• Second to coal, Natural Gas was used to produce 816,441,000 megawatt hours of electricity in 20061
• In third place, Nuclear power plants produced 787,219,000 megawatt hours of electricity in 20061
• Other energy sources include hydro-electric dams, wind, and solar power,
How to conserve electricity
• Turn off your lights when you leave your room.
• Open your window coverings instead of turning on your lights during the day.
• Un-plug your TV when you aren’t watching it. A TV on standby can use as much as 15 watts of electricity.
• Only turn on your computer when you need it.
Submitted by Kameron Ray,
Resident Assistant,
New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology