11.2 Energy Use for Transportation
11.2 Energy Use for TransportationAs we have seen nearly a third of total energy use in the US falls into the transportation sector. This amounts to 28.2 Quadrillion BTUS of energy in 2025, which is 28,200,000,000,000,000 BTU!!.
Text description of the U.S. Enegry Consumption by Score and Sector, 2025 image.
The image depicts a flowchart illustrating U.S. energy consumption by source and sector for the year 2025, measured in quadrillion British thermal units (Btu). On the left side, energy sources are represented in a vertical column, encompassing petroleum, natural gas, renewable energy, coal, and nuclear, each accompanied by numerical figures and percentages indicating their contribution to total energy consumption. Each source is connected by lines to the right side of the chart, which categorizes energy use by sector, including transportation, industrial, residential, and commercial. The end-use sectors are color-coded, with transportation highlighted in yellow at 37%, followed by industrial at 35%, residential at 15%, and commercial at 9%. The central section labeled "electric power sector" notes energy losses and electricity sales to consumers with corresponding percentages. The chart includes a total at the bottom for both sources and sectors.
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, petroleum products supplied about 89% of total U.S. transportation energy use in 2025. Petroleum includes fuels such as gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel. This means that most transportation in the United States still depends heavily on oil-based fuels.
The same source reports that biofuels contributed about 6% of transportation energy use in 2025, and most of that biofuel was blended with petroleum fuels such as gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel. Natural gas accounted for about 5%, and nearly all of that use was connected to natural gas pipeline compressors rather than everyday passenger vehicles. Electricity used by mass transit systems was less than 1% of total transportation energy use.
These numbers are helpful because they show that, even though electric vehicles receive a lot of attention, the U.S. transportation system is still mostly powered by petroleum.They also show that changing transportation energy use is a big challenge because it involves millions of vehicles, many different industries, and several kinds of infrastructure.
Gasoline is still the largest transportation fuel in the United States. On an energy basis, gasoline accounted for about 52% of total transportation energy consumption in 2025, while distillate fuels such as diesel accounted for about 22%, and jet fuel accounted for about 13%.
This helps explain why transportation is such an important topic in an energy class. When we talk about reducing fuel use, lowering emissions, or improving efficiency, we are often talking about reducing dependence on gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel.
Text description of the U.S. Transportation Energy Sources, 2025 image.
The image is a pie chart illustrating the sources of transportation energy in the United States for the year 2025. The chart is predominantly circular and divided into several color-coded segments, each representing different energy sources. The largest segment, colored in bright blue, indicates that gasoline accounts for 52% of transportation energy sources. Adjacent to it is a larger segment colored in dark green, representing distillates at 22%. The other segments are smaller: jet fuel (colored yellow) at 13%, biofuels (colored orange) at 6%, natural gas (light green) at 5%, and a small gray segment labeled "other," which is only 2%. Each segment is clearly labeled with its corresponding percentage, providing a visual representation of the distribution of energy sources. Below the chart, there is a note indicating that the data is sourced from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, along with a disclaimer about the sum of individual components not equaling 100% due to rounding.