One visual, all of America’s energy

As I’ve said before, I’m a sucker for effective visualizations. In this age of “energy independence” I was really taken aback by this visual: the energy generation, transmission, and consumption in the U.S. Given the complexity of the information and sheer volume of data to present, I think this visual does an excellent job. (Other interesting visuals are available on the Lawrence Livermore site here. Thanks to Drew for sharing this with me.)

U.S. Energy Generation, Transmission, and Consumption

Notice how little energy alternative sources are producing. Also, notice that we’re losing a ton of energy to transmission. In fact, if we could halve transmission losses we could eliminate all imports.

Does anything else stand out to you? More notable points than mine? Is the graphic missing data that you would like to see? Is energy independence truly achievable?