In 2010, bulk chemicals accounted for about 5 percent of the nation’s energy use, according to the Energy Information Administration.

The industrial sector is responsible for nearly a third of total energy use in the United States, consuming an estimated 31 quadrillion Btu in 2012. Much of this consumption is in energy-intensive manufacturing, including the manufacture of bulk chemicals, which require a lot of energy to produce high volumes of basic chemicals, plastics, and agricultural chemicals.

Over the long term, EIA projections show a declining contribution from the bulk chemicals industry to energy consumption, but projected energy use in the bulk chemicals sector accelerates through the middle of the next decade before dropping below the growth rate of the overall economy.