21 The state's other key industries include: business and financial services aerospace auto and truck manufacturing biotechnology and pharmaceuticals food processing furniture manufacturing information technology plastics and chemicals and textiles. North Carolina has a large agricultural industry and is the top producer of poultry, tobacco, and sweet potatoes. The commercial and industrial sectors each make up about one-fifth of the state's energy consumption. 17, 18, 19 The residential sector follows the transportation sector, accounting for slightly more than one-fourth of the state total. airports as ranked by passenger traffic-make the transportation sector North Carolina's largest end-use energy-consuming sector, accounting for three-tenths of the state's total energy consumption. 16 The residents, tourists, and truckers who use motor gasoline and diesel fuel on the state's heavily traveled highway system and the jet fuel consumed at the busy Charlotte Douglas International Airport-one of the top 10 U.S. 15 However, total energy consumption per capita in North Carolina is among the lowest one-third of the states. North Carolina consumes almost four times more energy than it produces. 13 In addition to its natural resources, North Carolina is one of the nation's leading nuclear power-producing states. 12 In 2020, the federal government added North Carolina to an offshore oil and natural gas drilling moratorium through June 2032, joining Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina. 10, 11 North Carolina has few fossil fuel resources and does not have any oil, natural gas, or coal production. 8, 9 Rivers that flow through the state provide hydroelectric power to many communities. 7 The nearly 19 million acres of woodlands that cover about three-fifths of the state provide a large biomass resource and employment for about 70,000 people who work in North Carolina's forestry and forest products industries. 6 Strong offshore winds along the state's Atlantic coast could provide energy for electricity generation.

4, 5 North Carolina's solar resources help make the state a leader in solar power. North Carolina has substantial renewable energy resources.

2 North Carolina, is second only to Florida in tropical cyclone landfalls.

1 The state's terrain ranges from the barrier islands of the Outer Banks in the east, where North Carolina is brushed by the warm waters of the Gulf Stream, across the Coastal Plain and the Piedmont region to the heavily forested spine of the Appalachian Mountains in the west. North Carolina rises from its Atlantic Ocean coastline to the highest peak east of the Mississippi River-Mount Mitchell, which stands more than a mile above sea level at 6,684 feet.

Earth energy grid map