How does population growth contribute to rising energy consumption in America?

The contribution of American population growth to rising energy consumption is analyzed for the period 1947–91. Energy consumption is disaggregated into electricity and nonelectricity consumption, and by end-use sectors: residential and commercial, industrial, and transportation. Population growth has been relatively unimportant as a contributor to yearly fluctuations in energy consumption. However, whereas energy changes induced by nonpopulation factors are erratic, sometimes adding consumption and sometimes subtracting, population growth consistently adds to consumption. As a result, depending upon which energy sector is considered, population growth may have a dominant role in the longterm growth of consumption.