Do Americans Understand How Fossil Fuels Are Used?

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Thoughts on Our Present and Future Power Sources

America relies on a number of different energy sources, including natural gas, coal, nuclear, wind, and hydroelectric power. To explore Americans’ thoughts about our energy sources, we asked 1,000 of them what they think is powering our nation and if they feel it should change. How knowledgeable are they about our energy, and how would they prefer we source it?

Key Takeaways

• Just 23% of Americans correctly identified petroleum as the primary source of energy consumed in the U.S.
  • Only 17% of Gen Zers were able to correctly identify petroleum as the largest source of energy consumed in the U.S.
• Just 34% of Americans know that natural gas is the primary energy type produced by the U.S.
• 1 in 10 Americans were not aware that any of these are made using oil and natural gas.
• What Americans most SUPPORT using fossil fuels for:
  • Transportation (50%)
  • Manufacturing (47%)
  • Energy generation (44%)
• What Americans most OPPOSE using fossil fuels for:
  • Cosmetics (53%)
  • Outdoors/sports gear (38%)
  • Household supplies (36%)
• What each generation most SUPPORTS or OPPOSES using fossil fuels for:
  • Baby boomers:
    • SUPPORTS: Manufacturing (93%)
    • OPPOSES: Electronics (23%)
  • Gen X:
    • SUPPORTS: Transportation (79%)
    • OPPOSES: Cosmetics (28%)
  • Millennials:
    • SUPPORTS: Transportation (79%)
    • OPPOSES: Cosmetics (42%)
  • Gen Z:
    • SUPPORTS: Manufacturing (82%)
    • OPPOSES: Outdoor equipment/sports gear (36%)

Key Takeaways

• Percentage of each generation wanting nuclear electric power to be the main source of power in the U.S.:
  • Baby boomers: 28%
  • Gen Xers: 19%
  • Millennials: 26%
  • Gen Zers: 35%
• 54% of women want solar to be the main power source, compared to 34% of men.
• 37% of men want nuclear electric power to be the main power source, compared to 13% of women.

Methodology

Payless Power surveyed 1,007 Americans about fossil fuels. Of them, 50% were Democrats, 21% were Republicans, 21% had no affiliation, and the remainder were supporters of another party. As for gender, 50% of respondents were male, 48% were female, and 2% were nonbinary.

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Fair Use Statement

If you’d like to share our findings for any non-commercial purpose, you’re welcome to do so as long as you include a link to this page.

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