US Energy Independence Began 20 Years Ago and Is a Force Today

The fact that the one-time-pipedream of nuclear fusion may soon be a reality is momentous news for those anxious about sufficient inexpensive energy supplies and those concerned about climate control and nuclear waste. And that this transformative event may occur here in the United States – “may” because CFS’s demonstration machine isn’t even expected to show a net energy production for two more years – is yet one more example of the U.S.’s energy dominance in the world. 

That’s an important turn of events Americans shouldn’t take for granted.

Before returning to the potential for nuclear fusion, let’s look at how over the past two decades the United States has evolved from a degree of foreign-energy dependency that threatened our economy and national security to the premier energy producer in the world. This is an especially useful fact for U.S.-based manufacturers, who consume roughly one-third of this country’s available energy resources each year. 

Since the start of this country’s industrial revolution in the mid-19th century, Americans took their vast energy resources for granted. That sense of security ended with the OPEC oil embargo of the 1970s. In subsequent decades, without any strategic planning on the part of the federal government – and with a moratorium on building new nuclear reactors after 1979’s partial meltdown at Three Mile Island – our dependence on overseas energy supplies rose. By 2006, the imbalance had peaked: U.S. energy consumption outpaced production by 28.7 quadrillion BTUs, and imports outpaced exports by 29.9 quadrillion BTUs. 

That all changed with the “shale gale” of the early 2000s. 

The shale gale, of course, was tied to the hydraulic fracking revolution, made possible by new horizontal drilling and mapping technologies. By 2016, more than half of all American oil output resulted from fracking; by 2018 the United States became the world’s top crude oil producer; and by 2019 the U.S. was a net total energy exporter. 

Remarkably, last year this country produced 13.4 million barrels per day (b/d) of crude oil, twice as much as a decade ago. This easily tops Saudi Arabia’s 10.8 million b/d and Russia’s 10.7 million b/d. In other words, this country (and its manufacturing base) is no longer beholden to OPEC’s cartel or to a long-time geopolitical adversary for economy-sustaining energy resources. 

That’s only part of the story of American energy independence. The U.S. is also the world’s largest producer of natural gas, a title it’s held since surpassing Russia in 2011. In fact, we produce almost all the natural gas we consume and are the globe’s largest exporter of LNG. Moreover, 40% of our nation’s electricity needs are met through natural gas power plants, twice as much as through coal-fired power plants. Cheap natural gas has been a tremendous boon to the American economy over the past two decades.

And despite the environmental backlash to nuclear energy over the past 40 years, the U.S. still generates the most nuclear power worldwide, producing roughly 780,000 gigawatt hours (GWh) annually, compared to runner-up China with a little over 400,000 GWh – and roughly equivalent to production by the next four largest nuclear countries (France, Russia, South Korea, Canada). 

Finally, there’s the generation of renewable energy, comprising hydro, wind, biomass, solar, and geothermal sources. While China is the world leader in that energy category, generating 31% of global renewable electricity, the U.S. is runner-up with 11% of world production. In fact, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, solar and wind energy are expected to lead the growth in U.S. power generation through 2026.

Back to the plans for a nuclear fusion plant in Virginia. Fusion has been a dream for scientists since it was first proposed in the 1920s. Fusion also comes without the baggage of fission’s radioactive waste or fossil fuel’s release of global warming gases. The challenge of fusion has always been the extreme temperatures needed here on earth (exceeding 100 million degrees Celsius), but advanced technologies now place this capability within our grasp. 

Assuming a successful launch by CFS of its fusion plant in the next decade, the United States is one step closer to tapping into a potentially limitless clean energy source. Which would be icing on the cake for the future of American energy independence.