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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 (Trillion Btu)

Friday, July 22, 2016

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  1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
Air                                                              
Certificated carriersa                                                              
Jet fuel 264 525 1,061 1,020 1,150 1,366 1,649 1,534 1,566 1,615 1,688 1,730 1,780 1,844 1,796 1,956 1,877 1,770 1,659 1,676 1,806 1,793 1,758 1,755 1,683 1,505 1,493 1,462 1,382 1,371 1,393
General aviationb                                                              
Aviation gasoline 29 35 66 50 63 51 42 43 38 32 32 34 35 35 37 42 40 34 33 33 33 35 34 33 30 27 27 26 25 24 24
Jet fuel N 8 28 61 103 93 90 78 67 61 63 76 82 87 110 131 131 124 127 126 166 206 222 201 230 195 194 197 194 170 185
Highway                                                              
Gasoline, diesel and other fuels                                                              
Light duty vehicle, short wheel base and motorcyclec 5,146 6,215 8,485 9,282 8,773 8,963 8,720 8,063 8,203 8,406 8,510 8,534 8,677 8,762 8,988 9,187 9,159 9,219 9,458 9,456 9,451 9,701 9,404 11,256 10,760 10,767 10,902 11,045 11,075 11,076 11,163
Light duty vehicle, long wheel basec N U 1,539 2,385 2,975 3,420 4,451 4,777 5,116 5,356 5,514 5,701 5,919 6,173 6,308 6,607 6,617 6,690 6,903 7,595 7,927 7,359 7,586 4,614 4,366 4,464 4,531 4,417 4,389 4,395 4,668
Single-unit 2-axle 6-tire or more truckd N 1,731 496 678 865 925 1,045 1,022 1,030 1,061 1,129 1,152 1,176 1,197 852 1,172 1,195 1,208 1,290 1,110 1,120 1,188 1,232 2,039 2,143 2,032 1,887 1,777 1,797 1,813 1,862
Combination truck N 832 919 1,147 1,630 1,751 2,017 2,101 2,152 2,219 2,332 2,472 2,524 2,538 3,145 3,067 3,208 3,189 3,310 2,977 3,024 3,461 3,513 3,863 3,820 3,506 3,741 3,523 3,497 3,599 3,640
Bus 103 109 103 132 127 104 112 108 110 116 121 121 124 128 130 144 139 128 125 121 170 140 144 253 257 248 240 242 258 265 279
Transite                                                              
Electricity 10 9 9 9 8 14 17 17 16 17 17 17 17 17 17 17 18 19 19 19 19 20 20 21 22 22 22 22 22 23 23
Motor fuel                                                              
Dieself 29 34 38 51 60 84 90 92 95 94 94 94 74 75 78 80 82 83 93 77 76 74 76 74 74 91 88 87 85 84 75
Gasoline and other nondiesel fuelsg 24 16 9 1 1 6 4 4 5 6 8 8 3 3 3 3 3 3 4 3 4 4 4 4 4 12 12 13 13 13 14
Compressed natural gas N N N N N N N N 0 0 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 9 11 12 13 15 15 16 20 18 18 17 18 19
Rail, Class I (in freight service)                                                              
Distillate / diesel fuel 480 498 492 507 541 431 432 403 417 428 462 483 496 496 497 515 513 515 517 531 563 568 581 563 539 443 485 511 499 511 511
Amtrak                                                              
Electricity N N N 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
Distillate / diesel fuel N N N 9 9 9 11 11 11 12 10 10 10 10 11 11 13 13 12 10 10 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9
Water                                                              
Residual fuel oil 592 463 565 608 1,340 687 947 1,014 983 791 806 881 853 750 841 874 960 810 726 580 702 775 861 947 787 687 770 683 721 631 576
Distillate / diesel fuel oil 109 90 114 152 205 236 286 284 308 299 304 324 345 357 360 336 314 284 288 307 297 278 264 267 275 265 278 296 245 232 221
Gasoline N N 75 91 132 132 163 214 165 109 109 133 124 123 120 137 141 124 135 138 126 158 155 153 142 141 146 138 137 140 177
Pipeline                                                              
Natural gas 358 516 745 601 654 519 680 620 606 644 707 722 734 775 655 665 662 644 688 610 584 602 602 641 668 691 695 709 753 859 862

KEY: Btu = British thermal unit; N = data does not exist; U = data is unavailable.

a Domestic operations only.

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

c Data for 2007-13 were calculated using a new methodology developed by FHWA. Data for these years are based on new categories and are not comparable to previous years. The new category Light duty vehicle, short wheel base includes passenger cars, light trucks, vans and sport utility vehicles with a wheelbase (WB) equal to or less than 121 inches. The new category Light duty vehicle, long wheel base includes large passenger cars, vans, pickup trucks, and sport/utility vehicles with wheelbases (WB) larger than 121 inches. In addition, this edition of table 4-06 is not comparable to previous editions.

d 1965 data includes other 2-axle 4-tire vehicles.

e Data from 1997-2013 are not comparable to data before 1997 due to different sources. Prior to 1984, excludes commuter rail, automated guideway, ferryboat, demand responsive vehicles, and most rural and smaller systems.

fDiesel includes Diesel and Bio-Diesel.

gGasoline and all other nondiesel fuels include Gasoline, Liquified Petroleum Gas, Liquified Natural Gas, Methane, Ethanol, Bunker Fuel, Kerosene, Grain Additive, and Other Fuel.

NOTES

The following conversion rates were used:

Jet fuel = 135,000 Btu/gallon.

Aviation gasoline = 120,200 Btu/gallon.

Automotive gasoline = 125,000 Btu/gallon.

Diesel motor fuel = 138,700 Btu/gallon.

Compressed natural gas = 138,700 Btu/gallon.

Distillate fuel = 138,700 Btu/gallon.

Residual fuel = 149,700 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:

1960-2014: U.S. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Office of Airline Information, Fuel Cost and Consumption, available at http://www.transtats.bts.gov/fuel.asp as of Mar. 24, 2016.

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.

1994-2014: Ibid., FAA Aerospace Forecasts Fiscal Years 2015-2035 (Washington, DC: 2015), tables 23 and 31, and similar tables in earlier editions, available at http://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/apl/aviation_forecasts/ as of Mar. 24, 2016.

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, available at http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policy/ohpi/hss/hsspubs.cfm as of June 29, 2010.

1995-2014: Ibid., Highway Statistics (Washington, DC: Annual Issues), table VM-1, available at http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policyinformation/statistics.cfm as of Mar. 24, 2016.

Transit:

Electricity / motor fuel / compressed natural gas:

1960-96: American Public Transportation Association, 2009 Public Transportation Fact Book (Washington, DC: June 2009), tables 26, 27, 28 and similar tables in earlier editions.

1997-2014: U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Transit Administration, National Transportation Database, table 17 and similar tables in previous years, available at www.ntdprogram.gov as of Mar. 24, 2016.

Rail:

1960-2014: Association of American Railroads, Railroad Facts (Washington, DC: Annual Issues), p. 43.

Amtrak:

1975-2014: National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak), Energy Management Department and Government Affairs Department, personal communications, Apr. 27, 2011, May 8, 2013, Aug. 20, 2014, Spet. 11, 2015 and Jun. 20, 2016.

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.

1985-2014 U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Information Administration, Fuel Oil and Kerosene Sales (Washington, DC: Annual Issues), available at http://www.eia.doe.gov/oil_gas/petroleum/data_publications/fuel_oil_and_kerosene_sales/foks.html as of Mar. 24, 2016.

Gasoline:

1970-2014: U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, Highway Statistics (Washington, DC: Annual Issues), table MF-24 and similar tables in earlier editions, available at http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policy/ohpi/hss/hsspubs.cfm as of Mar. 24, 2016.

Pipeline:

1960-2014: U.S. Department of Energy, Natural Gas Annual, DOE/EIA-0131(04) (Washington, DC), table 15 and similar tables in earlier editions, available at http://www.eia.doe.gov/natural_gas/data_publications/natural_gas_annual/nga.html as of Mar. 24, 2016.