Historic Growth in U.S. GDP and Energy Consumption

Historically, increases in the level of economic activity have correlated strongly with increased energy use. However, in recent years there has been a decoupling of the connection between economic growth and consumption of energy in the United States. This decoupling is illustrated in Figure 18, which shows that GDP has grown rapidly while energy use has grown at relatively modest levels, particularly since the mid-1980s.

Figure 18

Note: Chained dollars are dollars adjusted to purchasing power as of a base year, 1996 in this case. Source: USDOE, 2000a.