Ten Surprising Facts About Our Energy Landscape

A fact sheet by the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) outlining the current state of the United States energy landscape and the potential economic and efficiency gains achievable by 2050 through the 'Reinventing Fire' approach, which emphasizes efficiency and renewables over fossil fuels and nuclear power.

• The United States transportation sector consumes 13 million barrels of oil daily, with half being imported, costing $2 billion. In 2009, personal transportation was the second largest consumer cost in America after housing, accounting for $740 billion and an average of 17.6% of household spending.
• Buildings in the U.S. are the largest energy consumers of any sector, with 120 million buildings using 42% of the nation's energy. The annual cost to heat and power these buildings exceeds $400 billion, which is more than government spending on Medicare.
• U.S. industry accounts for roughly one-fourth of the nation's annual total energy use, while employing nearly 131 million people and generating over 40% of the U.S. GDP.
• By 2050, the U.S. could support an economy 158% larger without using coal, oil, or nuclear energy. Transitioning to renewables and efficiency—including using one-third less natural gas—could result in net savings of $5 trillion.
• Specific efficiency targets for 2050 include making cars, trucks, and planes more efficient through a $2 trillion investment to save $5.8 trillion, increasing building energy efficiency by 40–60% despite a 70% increase in floorspace, and increasing industrial output by 84% while using 9–13% less energy. Additionally, renewables could meet 80% or more of electricity needs.

APA

RMI (2011). Ten Surprising Facts About Our Energy Landscape. https://rmi.org/resources/tenfactsaboutourenergylandscape/

Chicago

RMI. Ten Surprising Facts About Our Energy Landscape. 2011. https://rmi.org/resources/tenfactsaboutourenergylandscape/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=RMI |title=Ten Surprising Facts About Our Energy Landscape |date=6 September 2011 |url=https://rmi.org/resources/tenfactsaboutourenergylandscape/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{rmi2011ten, author = {{RMI}}, title = {{Ten Surprising Facts About Our Energy Landscape}}, institution = {RMI}, year = {2011}, month = sep, url = {https://rmi.org/resources/tenfactsaboutourenergylandscape/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }