What are the different types of primary energy sources?

Primary energy sources take many forms, including nuclear energy, fossil energy -- like oil, coal and natural gas -- and renewable sources like wind, solar, geothermal and hydropower.

What are the main sources of energy?

From the late 1800s until today, fossil fuels—coal, petroleum, and natural gas—have been the primary sources of energy. Hydropower and wood were the most used renewable energy resources until the 1990s. Since then, U.S. energy consumption from biofuels, geothermal energy, solar energy, and wind energy have increased.

What is the main source of energy in the United States?

Until the mid-1800s, wood was the source of nearly all the nation's energy needs for heating, cooking, and lighting. From the late 1800s until today, fossil fuels—coal, petroleum, and natural gas—have been the primary sources of energy. Hydropower and wood were the most used renewable energy resources until the 1990s.

What are nonrenewable energy sources?

In the United States and many other countries, most energy sources used for doing work are nonrenewable energy sources: These energy sources are called nonrenewable because their supplies are limited to the amounts that we can mine or extract from the earth.

What makes a good energy source?

The overall evaluation of an energy source is based not only on how clean it is; it also has to be reliable, accessible, and affordable. Not all of these factors can be categorized neatly. For example, petroleum tends to be relatively affordable in the United States, but that is in part because the government subsidizes fossil fuel industries.

Which energy sources are used in low-income countries?

In this interactive chart, we see the share of primary energy consumption that came from renewable technologies – the combination of hydropower, solar, wind, geothermal, wave, tidal, and modern biofuels. Traditional biomass – which can be an important energy source in lower-income settings is not included.