Most of Florida's energy is derived from petroleum and naturalÊgas principally from Texas and Louisiana. In 1979, the state's best year of oil production, its two oil fields produced 17 percent of the state's needs. In the early 1990s that share had fallen to about 2 percent.
Since the 1970s, as a result of high oil prices, the state has sought alternative sources of energy such as coal and nuclear. Many of the state's power stations have converted from petroleum to coal as their fuel source, and some have converted to natural gas.
Although meeting only about 6 percent of Florida's total energy demands, renewableÊsources have become more important. CommercialÊsolarÊenergy today is only in its infancy, but has potential. Of renewable energy sources, biomass, wood waste, and solidÊwaste have expanded most dramatically since 1970. The sugar industry today uses a large percentage of its waste to generate power and heat to refine sugar. More and more communities are choosing to generate power from their solid waste rather than to put it into landfills. The state's large paper industry also uses its waste material to produce electricity for its mills.
