Fossil fuels (the red part of the pie) dominate U.S. fuel usage. 2006 data.

In a new report, Environment New Hampshire crunches the numbers and says that in 2006, NH spent $3,118 per person on fossil fuels, a number that could rise as much as 45 percent over the next two decades. More than three-quarters of that is spent on oil, rather than coal or natural gas; this percentage is higher than in many other states thanks to the Northeast’s historic dependence on heating oil (which is what my house uses).

The report (the executive summary is here, with a link to the full PDF) is designed to highlight the dollars-and-cents cost of current energy patterns, to be balanced against the hefty price tags needed to switch to alternative energy production. All this, of course, doesn’t factor in the environmental cost of fossil fuels.

To further its price-tag argument, Environment New Hampshire cites “Climate 2030: A National Blueprint for a Clean Energy Economy,” a national study by the Union for Concerned Scientists, to push the case that switching from fossil fuels isn’t just a financial burden, but can spur economic activity and create jobs.

Tags: environment new hampshire