Please tell us a little more about you
We appreciate you taking the time to help America’s Health Rankings better understand our audiences. Your feedback will allow us to optimize our website and provide you with additional resources in the future. Thank you.
Please select one option which best describes your profession or field of expertise
Transportation Energy Use in United States
United States
Explore national- and state-level data for hundreds of health, environmental and socioeconomic measures, including background information about each measure. Use features on this page to find measures; view subpopulations, trends and rankings; and download and share content.
United States Value:
8.3
Amount of energy in trillion British thermal units (BTUs) consumed by the transportation of people and goods per 100,000 population
Transportation Energy Use in depth:
Appears In:
Transportation Energy Use by State
Amount of energy in trillion British thermal units (BTUs) consumed by the transportation of people and goods per 100,000 population
Transportation Energy Use in
Data from U.S. Energy Information Administration, State Energy Data System, 2022
<= 7.1
7.2 - 7.8
7.9 - 8.8
8.9 - 10.9
>= 11.0
Transportation Energy Use
- U.S. Energy Information Administration, State Energy Data System, 2022
About Transportation Energy Use
US Value: 8.3
Top State(s): Rhode Island: 5.2
Bottom State(s): Alaska: 25.8
Definition: Amount of energy in trillion British thermal units (BTUs) consumed by the transportation of people and goods per 100,000 population
Data Source and Years(s): U.S. Energy Information Administration, State Energy Data System, 2022
Suggested Citation: America's Health Rankings analysis of U.S. Energy Information Administration, State Energy Data System, United Health Foundation, AmericasHealthRankings.org, accessed 2025.
Transportation accounts for more than one-fourth of the energy consumed in the United States annually. It accounts for more than any other sector except the industrial sector and about 27% more than the residential sector.
Energy used for transportation in the U.S. predominantly comes from petroleum, a fossil fuel. Burning fossil fuel products such as diesel or gasoline releases carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses (GHG) that trap heat and lead to the warming of the atmosphere. The transportation sector is the largest contributor to GHG emissions. Within the transportation sector, 57% of GHG emissions in 2022 came from light-duty vehicles (passenger cars and light-duty trucks), followed by medium- and heavy-duty trucks at 23%.
The consequences of fossil fuel use extend beyond global warming. Transportation emissions have damaging and far-reaching effects on our air, water, environment and ecosystem, contributing to acid rain, smog, contaminated drinking water, heavy metal poisoning, mass extinction events and declines in quality and longevity of human life. Research on the impact of pollution on health reveals strong associations with adverse birth outcomes, asthma, cancer and other serious health impacts.
The fossil fuels used for transportation contribute to climate change, which impacts everyone. However, some populations are disproportionately affected, including pregnant women, children, older adults, individuals with disabilities, poor communities and communities of color.
Achieving carbon-neutral industrial transportation is challenging, as there are currently no technologies apart from petroleum-fueled internal combustion engines capable of powering shipping freighters or planes. However, steps can be taken to reduce fossil fuel use in transportation, such as:
- Developing technologies that reduce the amount of fuel used to operate vehicles. These technologies include advanced internal combustion engines and start-stop systems.
- Expanding the market for electric vehicles and other low-carbon technologies by creating automobile fuel economy standards, mandates for the supply of renewable fuels, tax incentives to promote electric vehicles and renewable fuel use and funding public transportation.
- Accelerating the development of technologies that could save fuel in freight-hauling trucks.
- Reducing or reforming fossil fuel subsidies.
- Engaging existing oil and gas companies in the transition to clean energy.
- Ensuring strict regulation of U.S. oil and gas production to reduce methane emissions and routine gas flaring (the burning of natural gas) during production.
The Center for Climate and Energy Solutions suggests actions individuals can take to reduce their transportation energy footprint.
The Alliance to Save Energy aims to cut transportation energy use in half by 2050.
Altman, Matthew C., Meyer Kattan, George T. O’Connor, Ryan C. Murphy, Elizabeth Whalen, Petra LeBeau, Agustin Calatroni, et al. “Associations between Outdoor Air Pollutants and Non-Viral Asthma Exacerbations and Airway Inflammatory Responses in Children and Adolescents Living in Urban Areas in the USA: A Retrospective Secondary Analysis.” The Lancet Planetary Health 7, no. 1 (January 2023): e33–44. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2542-5196(22)00302-3.
Bekkar, Bruce, Susan Pacheco, Rupa Basu, and Nathaniel DeNicola. “Association of Air Pollution and Heat Exposure With Preterm Birth, Low Birth Weight, and Stillbirth in the US: A Systematic Review.” JAMA Network Open 3, no. 6 (June 18, 2020): e208243. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.8243.
International Energy Agency. “The Oil and Gas Industry in Energy Transitions.” Paris, France: IEA Publications, January 2020. https://www.iea.org/reports/the-oil-and-gas-industry-in-energy-transitions.
Introcaso, David. “Climate Change Is The Greatest Threat To Human Health In History.” Health Affairs Forefront, December 19, 2018. https://doi.org/10.1377/forefront.20181218.278288.
National Research Council, ed. Policy Options for Reducing Energy Use and Greenhouse Gas Emissions from U.S. Transportation. Transportation Research Board Special Report 307. Washington, D.C.: Transportation Research Board, 2011. https://onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/sr/sr307.pdf.
Rodrigue, Jean-Paul. “The Environmental Relationships of Transportation Systems.” In The Geography of Transport Systems, 6th ed. London: Routledge, 2024. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003343196.
The Alliance 50x50 Commission on U.S. Transportation Sector Efficiency. “Halving Transportation Energy Consumption By 2050.” The Alliance to Save Energy, February 2018. https://www.ase.org/sites/ase.org/files/transportation-white-paper-feb2018.pdf.
U.S. Department of Energy. “Natural Gas Flaring and Venting: State and Federal Regulatory Overview, Trends, and Impacts.” U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Oil and Natural Gas, Office of Fossil Energy, June 2019. https://www.energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2019/08/f65/Natural%20Gas%20Flaring%20and%20Venting%20Report.pdf.
Current Reports
America’s Health Rankings builds on the work of the United Health Foundation to draw attention to public health and better understand the health of various populations. Our platform provides relevant information that policymakers, public health officials, advocates and leaders can use to effect change in their communities.
We have developed detailed analyses on the health of key populations in the country, including women and children, seniors and those who have served in the U.S. Armed Forces, in addition to a deep dive into health disparities across the country.
