Our Electricity Where it comes from and what you can do to conserve it.

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