Energy use in California
Encyclopedia
California
, as the most populous U.S. state and home of Silicon Valley
, is one of the country's largest users of energy, but because of a mild climate it has one of the lowest per-capita energy uses within the U.S.
deposits are located in six geological basins in the Central Valley
and along the coast. California has more than a dozen of the United States' largest oil fields, including the Midway-Sunset Oil Field
, the second largest oil field in the contiguous United States. California’s hydroelectric power potential ranks second in the United States (behind Washington State), and substantial geothermal
and wind power
resources are found along the coastal mountain ranges and the eastern border with Nevada
. High solar power potential is found in southeastern California’s deserts
.
California is the most populous state in the nation, but its total energy demand is second to the state of Texas
. The state has one of the lowest per capita energy consumption
rates in the country
due in part to the relatively mild weather comparative to the rest of the nation.
. Although there is also substantial offshore
oil and gas production, there is a permanent moratorium on new offshore oil and gas leasing in California waters and a deferral of leasing in Federal waters.
California ranks third in the United States in petroleum refining
capacity and accounts for more than one-tenth of total U.S. capacity.{fact} In addition to oil from California, California’s refineries process crude oil from Alaska
and foreign suppliers. The refineries are configured to produce cleaner fuel
s, including reformulated motor gasoline
and low-sulfur diesel, to meet strict Federal and State environmental regulations.
Most California motorists are required to use a special motor gasoline blend called California Clean Burning Gasoline (CA CBG). By 2004, California completed a transition from methyl tertiary butyl-ether (MTBE) to ethanol as a gasoline oxygenate additive, making California the largest ethanol fuel market in the United States. There are four ethanol production plants in central and southern California, but most of California’s ethanol supply is transported from other states or abroad.
production typically is less than 2 percent of total annual U.S. production and satisfies less than one-sixth of state demand. California receives most of its natural gas by pipeline
from production regions in the Rocky Mountains
, the Southwest, and western Canada
.
Natural gas
-fired power plants typically account for more than one-half of State electricity generation. California is one of the largest hydroelectric power producers in the United States, and with adequate rainfall, hydroelectric power typically accounts for close to one-fifth of State electricity generation. Due to strict emission laws, only a few small coal-fired power plants operate in California.
California leads the nation in electricity generation from non-hydroelectric renewable energy sources, including geothermal power
, wind power
, and solar power
. California has the some of the most aggressive renewable energy goals in the United States, with a target for California to obtain a third of its electricity from renewables by 2020.
Solar Energy Generating Systems
(SEGS) is the name given to nine solar power plants in the Mojave Desert
which were built in the 1980s. These plants have a combined capacity of 354 megawatts (MW) making them the largest solar power
installation in the world. Nevada Solar One
is a new solar thermal plant with a 64-MW generating capacity, located near Boulder City
, NV
. There are also plans to build other large solar plants in the Mojave Desert. The Mojave Solar Park
will deliver 553 MW of solar thermal power when fully operational in 2011.
A facility known as “The Geysers
,” located in the Mayacamas Mountains north of San Francisco, is the largest group of geothermal power plants in the world, with more than 750 megawatts of installed capacity. The Alta-Oak Creek Mojave wind project is an approved 800 MW wind farm proposal which would include up to 320 wind turbines in the mountains between Tehachapi and Mojave. Kern County is reviewing a number of other proposed wind projects that would generate a combined 4,600 megawatts of clean energy if approved.
Due to high electricity demand, California imports more electricity than any other state, primarily hydroelectric power from states in the Pacific Northwest (via Path 15
and Path 66
) and coal- and natural gas-fired production from the desert Southwest via Path 46
.
Although California's population increased by 13% during the 1990s, the state did not build any new major power plants during that time, although existing in-state power plants were expanded and power output was increased nearly 30% from 1990 to 2001.
California’s two nuclear power plant
s account for almost one-fifth of total generation, these are:
California also used to have another nuclear power plant, the Rancho Seco Nuclear Generating Station
, which produced more than 900 MW. However, it was shut down.
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, as the most populous U.S. state and home of Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley is a term which refers to the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area in Northern California in the United States. The region is home to many of the world's largest technology corporations...
, is one of the country's largest users of energy, but because of a mild climate it has one of the lowest per-capita energy uses within the U.S.
Resources and consumption
California’s crude oil and natural gasNatural gas
Natural gas is a naturally occurring gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, typically with 0–20% higher hydrocarbons . It is found associated with other hydrocarbon fuel, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is an important fuel source and a major feedstock for fertilizers.Most natural...
deposits are located in six geological basins in the Central Valley
California Central Valley
California's Central Valley is a large, flat valley that dominates the central portion of California. It is home to California's most productive agricultural efforts. The valley stretches approximately from northwest to southeast inland and parallel to the Pacific Ocean coast. Its northern half is...
and along the coast. California has more than a dozen of the United States' largest oil fields, including the Midway-Sunset Oil Field
Midway-Sunset Oil Field
The Midway-Sunset Oil Field is a large oil field in Kern County, San Joaquin Valley, California in the United States. Discovered in 1894, and having a cumulative production of close to of oil at the end of 2006, it is the largest oil field in California and the third largest in the United States....
, the second largest oil field in the contiguous United States. California’s hydroelectric power potential ranks second in the United States (behind Washington State), and substantial geothermal
Geothermal power
Geothermal energy is thermal energy generated and stored in the Earth. Thermal energy is the energy that determines the temperature of matter. Earth's geothermal energy originates from the original formation of the planet and from radioactive decay of minerals...
and wind power
Wind power
Wind power is the conversion of wind energy into a useful form of energy, such as using wind turbines to make electricity, windmills for mechanical power, windpumps for water pumping or drainage, or sails to propel ships....
resources are found along the coastal mountain ranges and the eastern border with Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
. High solar power potential is found in southeastern California’s deserts
Déserts
Déserts is a piece by Edgard Varèse for brass , percussion , piano, and tape. Percussion instruments are exploited for their resonant potential, rather than used solely as accompaniment...
.
California is the most populous state in the nation, but its total energy demand is second to the state of Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
. The state has one of the lowest per capita energy consumption
Energy consumption
Energy consumption is the consumption of energy or power. It is covered in the following articles and categories:* World energy consumption* Domestic energy consumption* Fuel efficiency in transportation* Electric energy consumption* Electricity generation...
rates in the country
Energy use in the United States
The United States is the 2nd largest energy consumer in terms of total use in 2010 . The U.S. ranks seventh in energy consumption per-capita after Canada and a number of small countries....
due in part to the relatively mild weather comparative to the rest of the nation.
| Energy Source | % of total |
|---|---|
| Natural Gas | 46.5% |
| Nuclear | 14.9% |
| Large Hydro | 9.6% |
| Coal | 15.5% |
| Renewables | 13.5% |
Petroleum
California’s crude oil output accounts for more than one-tenth of total U.S. production. Drilling operations are concentrated primarily in Kern County and the Los Angeles basinLos Angeles Basin
The Los Angeles Basin is the coastal sediment-filled plain located between the Peninsular and Transverse ranges in southern California in the United States containing the central part of the city of Los Angeles as well as its southern and southeastern suburbs...
. Although there is also substantial offshore
Offshore drilling
Offshore drilling refers to a mechanical process where a wellbore is drilled through the seabed. It is typically carried out in order to explore for and subsequently produce hydrocarbons which lie in rock formations beneath the seabed...
oil and gas production, there is a permanent moratorium on new offshore oil and gas leasing in California waters and a deferral of leasing in Federal waters.
California ranks third in the United States in petroleum refining
Refining
Refining is the process of purification of a substance or a form. The term is usually used of a natural resource that is almost in a usable form, but which is more useful in its pure form. For instance, most types of natural petroleum will burn straight from the ground, but it will burn poorly...
capacity and accounts for more than one-tenth of total U.S. capacity.{fact} In addition to oil from California, California’s refineries process crude oil from Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
and foreign suppliers. The refineries are configured to produce cleaner fuel
Fuel
Fuel is any material that stores energy that can later be extracted to perform mechanical work in a controlled manner. Most fuels used by humans undergo combustion, a redox reaction in which a combustible substance releases energy after it ignites and reacts with the oxygen in the air...
s, including reformulated motor gasoline
Gasoline
Gasoline , or petrol , is a toxic, translucent, petroleum-derived liquid that is primarily used as a fuel in internal combustion engines. It consists mostly of organic compounds obtained by the fractional distillation of petroleum, enhanced with a variety of additives. Some gasolines also contain...
and low-sulfur diesel, to meet strict Federal and State environmental regulations.
Most California motorists are required to use a special motor gasoline blend called California Clean Burning Gasoline (CA CBG). By 2004, California completed a transition from methyl tertiary butyl-ether (MTBE) to ethanol as a gasoline oxygenate additive, making California the largest ethanol fuel market in the United States. There are four ethanol production plants in central and southern California, but most of California’s ethanol supply is transported from other states or abroad.
Natural gas
California natural gasNatural gas
Natural gas is a naturally occurring gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, typically with 0–20% higher hydrocarbons . It is found associated with other hydrocarbon fuel, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is an important fuel source and a major feedstock for fertilizers.Most natural...
production typically is less than 2 percent of total annual U.S. production and satisfies less than one-sixth of state demand. California receives most of its natural gas by pipeline
Pipeline transport
Pipeline transport is the transportation of goods through a pipe. Most commonly, liquids and gases are sent, but pneumatic tubes that transport solid capsules using compressed air are also used....
from production regions in the Rocky Mountains
Rocky Mountains
The Rocky Mountains are a major mountain range in western North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch more than from the northernmost part of British Columbia, in western Canada, to New Mexico, in the southwestern United States...
, the Southwest, and western Canada
Western Canada
Western Canada, also referred to as the Western provinces and commonly as the West, is a region of Canada that includes the four provinces west of the province of Ontario.- Provinces :...
.
Electricity
Natural gas
Natural gas is a naturally occurring gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, typically with 0–20% higher hydrocarbons . It is found associated with other hydrocarbon fuel, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is an important fuel source and a major feedstock for fertilizers.Most natural...
-fired power plants typically account for more than one-half of State electricity generation. California is one of the largest hydroelectric power producers in the United States, and with adequate rainfall, hydroelectric power typically accounts for close to one-fifth of State electricity generation. Due to strict emission laws, only a few small coal-fired power plants operate in California.
California leads the nation in electricity generation from non-hydroelectric renewable energy sources, including geothermal power
Geothermal power
Geothermal energy is thermal energy generated and stored in the Earth. Thermal energy is the energy that determines the temperature of matter. Earth's geothermal energy originates from the original formation of the planet and from radioactive decay of minerals...
, wind power
Wind power
Wind power is the conversion of wind energy into a useful form of energy, such as using wind turbines to make electricity, windmills for mechanical power, windpumps for water pumping or drainage, or sails to propel ships....
, and solar power
Solar power
Solar energy, radiant light and heat from the sun, has been harnessed by humans since ancient times using a range of ever-evolving technologies. Solar radiation, along with secondary solar-powered resources such as wind and wave power, hydroelectricity and biomass, account for most of the available...
. California has the some of the most aggressive renewable energy goals in the United States, with a target for California to obtain a third of its electricity from renewables by 2020.
Solar Energy Generating Systems
Solar Energy Generating Systems
Solar Energy Generating Systems is the largest solar energy generating facility in the world. It consists of nine solar power plants in California's Mojave Desert, where insolation is among the best available in the United States...
(SEGS) is the name given to nine solar power plants in the Mojave Desert
Mojave Desert
The Mojave Desert occupies a significant portion of southeastern California and smaller parts of central California, southern Nevada, southwestern Utah and northwestern Arizona, in the United States...
which were built in the 1980s. These plants have a combined capacity of 354 megawatts (MW) making them the largest solar power
Solar power
Solar energy, radiant light and heat from the sun, has been harnessed by humans since ancient times using a range of ever-evolving technologies. Solar radiation, along with secondary solar-powered resources such as wind and wave power, hydroelectricity and biomass, account for most of the available...
installation in the world. Nevada Solar One
Nevada Solar One
Nevada Solar One is a concentrated solar power plant, with a nominal capacity of 64 MW and maximum capacity of 75 MW spread over an area of 400 Acres. The projected CO2 emissions avoided is equivalent to taking approximately 20,000 cars off the road annually. The project required an investment of...
is a new solar thermal plant with a 64-MW generating capacity, located near Boulder City
Boulder City, Nevada
Boulder City is a city in Clark County, Nevada, United States. It is approximately from the City of Las Vegas. As of the 2010 census the population of Boulder City was 15,023.Boulder City is one of only two cities in Nevada that prohibit gambling....
, NV
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
. There are also plans to build other large solar plants in the Mojave Desert. The Mojave Solar Park
Mojave Solar Park
The Mojave Solar Park is a solar thermal power facility under construction in the Mojave Desert in California, which is located 100 miles northeast of Los Angeles near Barstow. The 280 MW concentrating solar power plant will cost an estimated $1.6 billion in total and should be completed in 2014...
will deliver 553 MW of solar thermal power when fully operational in 2011.
A facility known as “The Geysers
The Geysers
The Geysers is a complex of 22 geothermal power plants, drawing steam from more than 350 wells, located in the Mayacamas Mountains north of San Francisco, California.The largest in the world, the Geysers has...
,” located in the Mayacamas Mountains north of San Francisco, is the largest group of geothermal power plants in the world, with more than 750 megawatts of installed capacity. The Alta-Oak Creek Mojave wind project is an approved 800 MW wind farm proposal which would include up to 320 wind turbines in the mountains between Tehachapi and Mojave. Kern County is reviewing a number of other proposed wind projects that would generate a combined 4,600 megawatts of clean energy if approved.
Due to high electricity demand, California imports more electricity than any other state, primarily hydroelectric power from states in the Pacific Northwest (via Path 15
Path 15
Path 15 is an portion of the north-south power transmission corridor in California, U.S. It forms a part of the Pacific AC Intertie and the California-Oregon Transmission Project....
and Path 66
Path 66
Path 66 is the name of several 500 kV power lines that were built by Western Area Power Administration , Pacific Gas & Electric , and PacifiCorp in the early 1970s to 1990s and totally completed in 1993...
) and coal- and natural gas-fired production from the desert Southwest via Path 46
Path 46
Path 46, also called West of Colorado River, Arizona-California West-of-the-River Path , is a set of many alternating current high-voltage transmission lines that are located in southeast California and Nevada up to the Colorado River...
.
Although California's population increased by 13% during the 1990s, the state did not build any new major power plants during that time, although existing in-state power plants were expanded and power output was increased nearly 30% from 1990 to 2001.
California’s two nuclear power plant
Nuclear power plant
A nuclear power plant is a thermal power station in which the heat source is one or more nuclear reactors. As in a conventional thermal power station the heat is used to generate steam which drives a steam turbine connected to a generator which produces electricity.Nuclear power plants are usually...
s account for almost one-fifth of total generation, these are:
- Diablo Canyon Power PlantDiablo Canyon Power PlantDiablo Canyon Power Plant is an electricity-generating nuclear power plant at Avila Beach in San Luis Obispo County, California. The plant has two Westinghouse-designed 4-loop pressurized-water nuclear reactors operated by Pacific Gas & Electric. The facility is located on about in Avila Beach,...
: 2 reactors. Operated and owned by Pacific Gas & Electric Co. - San Onofre Nuclear Generating StationSan Onofre Nuclear Generating StationThe San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station is a nuclear power plant located on the Pacific coast of California. The site is in the northwestern corner of San Diego County, south of San Clemente, and surrounded by the San Onofre State Park and next to the I-5 Highway.Unit 1 is no longer in service...
: 2 reactors. Operated by Southern California EdisonSouthern California EdisonSouthern California Edison , the largest subsidiary of Edison International , is the primary electricity supply company for much of Southern California, USA. It provides 14 million people with electricity...
with various owners (SCE; San Diego Gas and Electric; City of Anaheim and the City of RiversideRiverside, CaliforniaRiverside is a city in Riverside County, California, United States, and the county seat of the eponymous county. Named for its location beside the Santa Ana River, it is the largest city in the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario metropolitan area of Southern California, 4th largest inland California...
).
California also used to have another nuclear power plant, the Rancho Seco Nuclear Generating Station
Rancho Seco Nuclear Generating Station
The Rancho Seco Nuclear Generating Station is a decommissioned nuclear power plant built by the Sacramento Municipal Utility District in Herald, California.-History:...
, which produced more than 900 MW. However, it was shut down.
External links
- http://www.energy.ca.gov/ — California Energy CommissionCalifornia Energy CommissionThe California Energy Commission is California’s primary energy policy and planning agency. Created in 1974 and headquartered in Sacramento, the Commission has responsibility for activities that include forecasting future energy needs, promoting energy efficiency through appliance and building...
website (Retrieved on 2009-02-24.) - http://www.caiso.com/ — California ISO website (Retrieved on 2009-02-24.)