The cement industry is the most energy intensive of all manufacturing industries
The industrial sector, which encompasses manufacturing, mining, agriculture, and construction, accounted for almost a third of total U.S. energy use in 2012. Energy-intensive manufacturing accounted for a little more than half of total industrial energy use. Although the cement industry used only one-quarter of one percent of total U.S. energy, it is the most energy-intensive of all manufacturing industries, with a share of national energy use roughly 10 times its share of the nation's gross output of goods and services. On average, other energy intensive industries' share of energy use is roughly twice their share of gross output. Cement is also unique in its heavy reliance on coal and petroleum coke.
Over the long term, EIA projections show an increasing contribution from the cement industry to energy consumption as well as increasing share of total gross output of goods and services (see charts below). Cement output is strongly tied to various types of construction.
The most recent EIA manufacturing sector survey data are available in the Manufacturing Energy Consumption Survey (MECS2010). For more discussion of the industrial sector and individual industries, see EIA's Industry Analysis Briefs and the Annual Energy Outlook 2013 (AEO2013).