According to the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), based on figures compiled from various sources, in 2009 the US used 94.6 quadrillion BTUs (or “quads”) of energy, and that figure was down from 99.2 quadrillion BTUs in 2008.

Simply put, US energy use fell 4.5% last year.

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As part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, passed in February 2009, Congress provided $3.2 billion in stimulus funds to promote energy and conservation projects at the state and local levels. Both investors and environmentalists were jubilant.

Now the cheers have turned to groans.

According to a Department of Energy audit report, as of August 1st, only $269.7 million of the funds had been spent—a mere 8.4% of the total.

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Consumers are thinking twice about investing in oil companies.

According to a survey from Edward Jones, 65% of Americans are reluctant to buy oil company stocks, and women are more wary than men.

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Data from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) shows retailers are increasingly turning to green energy sources to run their operations.

As of July 2010, Kohl’s ranks as the largest retail purchaser of green power. All of its electricity comes from biogas, biomass, small-hydro, solar and wind energy sources.

Whole Foods is the second largest retail purchaser of renewable energy—powering 100% of its electricity use with solar and wind.

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According to the “AWEA: Mid-Year 2010 Market Report,” released by the American Wind Energy Association, only 700 megawatts (MW) of US wind power installations were added in the second quarter of 2010, dropping by 57% and 71% from 2008 and 2009 levels, respectively.

As the release stated: “Wind power’s boom-and-bust cycles not only cause layoffs but also discourage investment in new manufacturing facilities. In effect, the US is losing the clean energy manufacturing race to Europe and China, which have firm, long-term renewable energy targets and policy commitments in place.”

While consumers resist the development of many forms of energy, solar production seems to be the exception, see Public Takes a Shine to Solar.

Now a Solarbuzz report, “United States PV Market 2010,” shows the US solar market grew 36% in 2009—despite the economic downturn— ranking as the third largest in the world, behind behind only Germany and Italy.

Solarbuzz estimates the US market will grow to between 4.5 and 5.5 gigawatts (GW) in the next five years—ten times the size of the 2009 market.

California still leads the solar power market in the US, by a large margin, accounting for 53% of on-grid installations in 2009. This year looks good for California, too, with the state set to account for 49% of new solar installations.

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As the New York Times blog Green put it, “What a difference an oil spill makes.”

Californians’ wariness of offshore drilling dates back to the Santa Barbara spill of 1969, but the Gulf of Mexico spill seems to have shifted public sentiment in the state quickly, even father away from offshore drilling—and toward a more activist view on global warming.

A poll taken by Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) shows that after favoring offshore drilling for the past two years, Californians now oppose drilling off the coast, 59% to 36%.

That is a sizable 16-point shift in opinion from last year, when only 43% were opposed to offshore drilling.

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The ups and downs of the public’s interest in—and attitudes toward—BP and its handling of the Gulf oil spill can be traced in online activity.

According to blog and twitter tracking by Sysomos, which provides business intelligence for social media, after April 20, 2010, when the Deepwater Horizon platform first caught fire, to July 15, 2010, when the spill was finally capped, social media mentions of BP exploded.

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Consumer electronics are increasingly focusing on the issue of energy efficiency, and television manufacturers in particular are looking for ways to deliver cost savings to customers.

Of course, size matters.

In Germany, the “Energy Efficiency Tracking” survey, conducted from January to May 2010 by GfK Retail and Technology, found the size of the TV screen is the most important criterion for TV power consumption.

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For more charts from the GE report cited above, see 88% of US Consumers Favor the Use of Smart Grid Devices.

In one of the first opinion polls released since the BP Gulf well was capped, Rasmussen Reports found 56% of US voters still believe offshore oil drilling should be allowed.

Nevertheless, 72% of voters are at least somewhat concerned that new offshore oil drilling will cause environmental problems, up 8% from last month—and that includes 39% who are “very concerned.”

Overall, however, since polling on the question began in May, there has been little change in public sentiment.

The US has been the world’s number one overall energy consumer since the early 1900s, but no more. China’s ascent marks “a new age in the history of energy,” said Fatih Birol, chief economist of the International Energy Agency (IEA), noting that China’s rise to the top was faster than expected, as that country was less affected by the global financial crisis than the US.

For reference: China Denies IEA Label as World’s Top Energy User (Reuters).