NEW JERSEY, USA – APRIL 21: Phillips 66 oil refinery is seen in New Jersey, United States on April 21, 2020. Brent crude oil dived below the threshold of $20 per barrel as the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic ramped up oil oversupply amid low global consumption. | Photo by Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Americans gobbled up fewer fossil fuels in 2020 than they have in three decades, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). Consumption of petroleum, natural gas, and coal dropped by 9 percent last year compared to 2019, the biggest annual decrease since the EIA started keeping track in 1949.
The COVID-19 pandemic was responsible for much of the fall as people stayed home to curb the spread of the virus and used less gas. In April 2020, oil prices nosedived below zero because there was so little demand. The US transportation sector alone used up 15 percent less energy in 2020 compared to the year before. Higher temperatures last winter also helped to cut energy demand for heating, according to the EIA. As a result,…
