Energy IQ, Day 3: Fueling Our Nation’s Economy

by Jane Van Ryan
Jul. 1, 2009

The oil and natural gas industry makes many important contributions to the U.S. economy, but specifically:

How much do oil companies pay in income taxes as a share of their income?

Test your Energy IQ to answer this question and others, and watch the video below to see what other people thought about how much companies pay in taxes.

Through the survey, we see that people underestimate the amount that oil companies contribute to the U.S. economy through jobs and taxes, and overestimate the industry's profits. Only 9 percent of respondents knew that oil companies pay more than 40 percent in income taxes as a share of their income. And from 2005-2007, oil and natural gas companies paid $242 billion in taxes.

Also, in 2008, the industry earned 5.7 cents on each dollar... more »

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Energy IQ, Day 2: Where Does Our Energy Come From?

by Jane Van Ryan
Jun. 30, 2009

Oil and natural gas are found all over the world in varying amounts, and throughout history, about one trillion barrels of oil have been produced. While about one-third of our oil is produced domestically, where does our imported oil come from?

Consider this Energy IQ survey question:

In 2008, which of the following countries was the largest U.S. supplier of imported oil?

Test your Energy IQ to answer this question and others, and watch the video below to see how other people answered this question.

To the surprise of many, it turns out that our friendly neighbor to the north, Canada, is the largest U.S. supplier of imported crude oil, but more than half of the survey respondents believed that Saudi Arabia was our largest supplier. In fact, only 12 percent of the oil c... more »

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Energy IQ, Day 1: Meeting Future Energy Demand

by Jane Van Ryan
Jun. 29, 2009

Looking ahead to the future, there's no doubt that we'll need more energy in the United States and around the world. Given expected global economic and population growth, time and again economists have said that energy efficiency improvements alone will not be enough to meet this future demand.

With this in mind, can you answer this question?

According to 2008 government projections, about what percent of global energy demand in 2030 will be met by fossil fuels, such as oil, natural gas and coal?

Test your Energy IQ to answer this question and others, and watch the video below to see what other people thought about the role of fossil fuels in future energy demand.