Energy Center Missouri Fossil Fuel Use

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Missouri Fossil Fuel Use at a Glance

Link to larger bar chart with percentage used and Btu amounts on fossil fuels from 1990 through 1999.

Increase in Consumption of Fossil Fuels in Missouri, 1990-1999.

Missourians lean heavily on fossil fuels– coal, petroleum and natural gas – for energy use. Of 1,858 trillion BTU of energy consumed in Missouri in 1999, about 93 percent came from fossil fuels
Missouri has very limited fossil fuel resources. Nearly all the coal, petroleum and natural gas used in Missouri are imported from out of state.
In 1999, Missourians used about 24 percent more fossil fuel than in 1990, far outstripping the state’s 9 percent increase in population during that period. Expenditures for fossil fuels increased about 19 percent, from $6.6 billion to $7.8 billion.
During these years, coal use increased at an average annual growth rate of 2.7 percent, followed by petroleum at 2.6 percent and natural gas at 1.2 percent.
To continue the consumption of fossil fuels into the 21^st century at these same rates of increase, imports of fossil fuel into the state would have to more than triple by mid-century.
The world’s present supply of coal, oil and natural gas is finite and non-renewable, a legacy of geologic processes that occurred over vast spans of time.
An alternative to Missouri’s heavy reliance on non-renewable fossil fuels is to switch to renewable energy sources such as solar energy, wind energy and biomass.

What are BTUs?

A BTU (British Thermal Unit) is a unit of measure that allow us to compare the energy content of different fuels. It’s possible to compare the energy in a gallon of gasoline, a cubic feet of natural gas and a quarter ton of coal by converting each to BTUs.
One BTU is approximately equal to the energy released in the burning of a wood match.
A trillion BTUs? -- Suppose that every day, seven days a week, you filled a 10,000 gallon swimming pool with gasoline. At that rate it would take you about 2 years and 10 weeks to pour out a trillion BTUs.

How Missourians Used Fossil Fuels in 1999

Link to larger pie chart with percentage used and Btu amounts on fossil Fuelds in 1999.

Pie Chart Segment Descriptions

Transportation Usage - Blue segment

The blue segment on the pie chart indicates fossil fuels used for transportation in 1999. Petroleum fuels such as gasoline, diesel fuel and jet fuel accounted for 615 trillion BTU, or 99 percent of this energy use. About 80 percent of petroleum consumed in Missouri is for transportation use.

Natural Gas Usage - Brown segment

The brown segment indicates natural gas use in the residential, commercial and industrial sectors. About two thirds of Missouri’s natural gas is used in residential and commercial buildings, for applications such as space and water heating. Industry accounts for only about 24 percent of natural gas use in Missouri. Industry’s share at the national level is much larger, about 47 percent.

Other Usage - Pink segment

The pink segment indicates other categories of fossil fuel use, primarily petroleum, that are described in the Energy Information Administration's State Energy Data Report 1999. PDF

Electricity Usage - Yellow segment

The yellow segment on the pie chart indicates fossil fuel used to generate electricity. In 1999, Missouri power plants burned about 678 trillion BTU of coal and other fossil fuels and produced about 86 percent of the electricity generated in the state. Coal accounted for about 97 percent of generation from fossil fuels.

More about generation from coal

Coal-fired power plants are the source of the majority of Missouri's sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and particulate emissions. They are also the source of a substantial share of the state’s carbon dioxide and mercury emissions. For more information about emissions from fossil-fired plants visit our Energy Statistics page.
When coal is burned to generate electricity, only about a third of the coal’s energy is captured as electricity. The remaining two thirds is lost as waste heat.
By comparison, combined cycle natural gas fired facilities can achieve about 50 percent efficiency in converting fossil fuel energy into electricity. Capturing the waste heat from generation as usable steam in a combined heat and power (CHP) operation can drive these efficiencies higher. The U.S. Combined Heat and Power Association provides links to Web-based sources of information about CHP.

More about generation from natural gas

Natural gas is becoming an increasingly important source for generation in Missouri. Natural gas is the fuel of choice for new generating plants. About 88 percent of planned generating capacity between 1998-2007 will be gas-fired. Missouri’s electric utilities used about 7 billion cubic feet of natural gas in 1997, 19 billion by 1999 and over 30 billion cubic feet in 2000. In 1999, about 2 percent of electricity generated in Missouri came from gas-fired plants; in 2000, this share doubled to about 4 percent.

More about electricity exports

The smallest slice of the yellow segment indicates fossil energy used to generate power that was sold out of state. Since the mid-70s, Missouri power plants have generated more power than Missouri consumers have used. Net exports of electricity to other states equaled about 8 percent of total generation in 1999 and 5 percent in 2000.

More about non-fossil generation

The yellow segment does not include Missouri’s main sources for non-fossil generation - nuclear and hydroelectric plants. Missouri’s hydroelectric plants provided about 2 percent in 1999, but their share varies from year to year depending on precipitation. Missouri’s single nuclear pant provided about 12 percent of total generation in 1999. Like fossil fuels, nuclear power relies on a non-renewable energy resource that must be imported into Missouri.

Data sources

The primary sources for data used in this overview are the U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Census Bureau.