USA Banner

Official US Government Icon

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure Site Icon

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

U.S. Department of Transportation U.S. Department of Transportation Icon United States Department of Transportation United States Department of Transportation

Table 4-6: Energy Consumption by Mode of Transportation

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Table 4-6: Energy Consumption by Mode of Transportation

(Trillion Btu)

Excel | CSV

  1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002
Air                              
Certificated carriersa                              
Jet fuel 264 525 1,061 1,020 1,150 1,366 1,664 1,711 1,784 1,831 1,800 1,944 2,004 1,892 1,735
General aviationb                              
Aviation gasoline 29 35 66 50 63 51 42 35 35 35 37 42 (R) 40 (R) 33 33
Jet fuel N 8 28 61 103 93 90 76 82 87 110 131 (R) 131 (R) 129 133
Highway                              
Gasoline, diesel and other fuels                              
Passenger car and motorcycle 5,146 6,215 8,485 9,282 8,773 8,963 8,720 8,534 8,677 8,762 8,988 9,187 9,159 (R) 9,219 9,392
Other 2-axle 4-tire vehicle N e 1,539 2,385 2,975 3,420 4,451 5,701 5,919 6,173 6,308 6,607 6,617 (R) 6,690 6,855
Single-unit 2-axle 6-tire or more truck N 1,921 550 752 960 1,026 1,159 1,278 1,305 1,328 946 1,300 1,326 (R) 1,341 1,429
Combination truck N 923 1,019 1,273 1,808 1,942 2,238 2,743 2,801 2,816 3,489 3,403 3,560 (R) 3,538 3,669
Bus 115 121 114 146 141 116 124 134 137 142 144 159 154 (R) 142 138
Transitc                              
Electricity 10 9 9 9 8 14 17 17 17 17 17 18 19 19 (P) 19
Motor fuel                              
Diesel 29 34 38 51 60 84 90 94 96 99 103 106 109 103 (P) 100
Gasoline and other nondiesel fuelsd 24 16 9 1 1 6 4 8 8 7 7 6 6 6 (P) 7
Compressed natural gas N N N N N N N 1 2 3 5 6 8 9 (P) 11
Rail, Class I (in freight service)                              
Distillate / diesel fuel 480 498 492 507 541 431 432 483 496 496 497 515 513 515 517
Amtrak                              
Electricity N N N 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 U
Distillate / diesel fuel N N N 9 9 9 11 9 10 10 10 10 11 10 U
Water                              
Residual fuel oil 592 463 565 608 1,340 687 947 881 853 750 841 874 960 810 726
Distillate / diesel fuel oil 109 90 114 152 205 236 286 324 345 357 360 336 314 284 288
Gasoline N N 75 91 132 132 163 133 124 123 120 137 141 124 135
Pipeline                              
Natural gas 358 516 745 601 654 519 680 722 734 775 655 665 662 (R) 644 (R) 688

KEY: Btu = British thermal unit; N = data do not exist; P = preliminary; R = revised; U = data are unavailable.

a Domestic operations only.

b Includes fuel used in air taxi operations, but not commuter operations.

c Prior to 1984, excludes commuter rail, automated guideway, ferryboat, demand responsive vehicles, and most rural and smaller systems.

d Gasoline and all other nondiesel fuels such as liquefied natural gas, methanol, and propane, except compressed natural gas.

e Included in other single-unit 2-axle 6-tire or more truck category.

NOTES

The following conversion rates were used:

Jet fuel = 135,000 Btu/gallon

Compressed natural gas = 138,700 Btu/gallon

Aviation gasoline = 120,200 Btu/gallon

Distillate fuel = 138,700 Btu/gallon

Automotive gasoline = 125,000 Btu/gallon

Residual fuel = 149,700 Btu/gallon

Diesel motor fuel = 138,700 Btu/gallon

Natural gas = 1,031 Btu/ft3

Electricity 1kWh = 3,412 Btu, negating electrical system losses. To include approximate electrical system losses, multiply this conversion factor by 3.

SOURCES

Air:

Certificated air carriers:

1960-2003: U.S. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Office of Airline Information, Internet site http://www.bts.gov/oai/fuel/fuelyearly.html as of Dec. 23, 2004.

General aviation:

1960-70: U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, FAA Statistical Handbook of Aviation - 1972 edition (Washington, DC: 1973), table 9.12.

1975-93: Ibid., General Aviation and Air Taxi Activity Survey (Washington, DC: Annual issues), table 5.1, and similar tables in earlier editions.

1994-2003: Ibid., FAA Aerospace Forecasts Fiscal Years 2004-2015 (Washington, DC: Mar. 2004), table 34 and similar tables in earlier editions.

Highway:

1960-94: U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, Highway Statistics, Summary to 1995, FHWA-PL-97-009 (Washington, DC: July 1997), table VM-201A. (Revised data obtained from Internet site http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/ohim/ohimstat.htm as of August 2001).

1995-2003: Ibid., Highway Statistics (Washington, DC: Annual issues), table VM-1.

Transit:

Electricity / motor fuel / compressed natural gas:

1960-2002: American Public Transportation Association, 2004 Public Transportation Fact Book (Washington, DC: March 2004), tables 33, 34, 35, and similar tables in earlier editions.

Rail:

1960-2003: Association of American Railroads, Railroad Facts (Washington, DC: 2004), p. 40.

Amtrak:

1975-2001: Amtrak, Energy Management Department, personal communication.

Water:

Residual and distillate / diesel fuel oil:

1960-80: American Petroleum Institute, Basic Petroleum Data Book (Washington, DC: Annual issues), tables 10, 10a, 12, and 12a.

1985-2003: U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Information Administration, Fuel Oil and Kerosene Sales (Washington, DC: Annual issues), tables 2, 4, and similar tables in earlier editions.

Gasoline:

1970-2003: U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, Highway Statistics (Washington, DC: Annual issues), table MF-24 and similar tables in earlier editions.

Pipeline:

1960-2003: U.S. Department of Energy, Natural Gas Annual 2003, DOE/EIA-0131(03) (Washington, DC: Dec. 2004), table 15 and similar tables in earlier editions.