Personal Energy Use My current energy usage consists of many forms of energy, mainly fossil fuels. In the home I use natural gas for cooking, and electricity for heat, hot water, and appliance usage. There is one other form of energy I use in the home and that is wood, a biofuel, as fuel to burn in the fireplace to help heat the house in the winter. On my way to work I use gasoline, another fossil fuel, as energy for transportation. While at work there is a large amount of energy usage, from powering the computer monitors all the way to supplying the power for ventilators so patients can breathe. My energy needs fluctuate throughout the year, as the summers and winters in Pennsylvania can be at the extremes. My energy usage in the summer is much lower than the winter. I rarely use my central air for cooling in the summer as I find opening the windows or spending time in the basement just as comforting. The days are longer which limits the amount of electricity I use for lighting. I do spend quite a bit of time traveling to the beach in the summer which uses a lot of gasoline. In the winter my energy consumption rises as the temperature drops. Electricity increases as the house needs to be heated and the days grow shorter increasing the light needed. The energy sources I rely on come mainly from fossil fuels, a non-renewable form of energy. Fossil fuels include coal, petroleum, oil and make up approximately 82% of the United States energy demand ( Institute for Energy Research). The fossil fuel I believe I use most often is coal. Coal is used extensively in power plants to produce electricity, and in the United States accounts for roughly 40 percent of overall electricity ( Institute for Energy Research).

Sources of Energy According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration website, Pennsylvania uses many forms of renewable energy, including hydro