The MCC Workshop Interesting Energy Facts.

This is an unorganized list of some energy facts

This information is from various sources. I tried to find at least two, and possibly three independent sources for each of these facts. Some of them have a tolerance due to the nature of the material. I do not know what those tolerances are.

Wherever possible I cross referenced with the Energy Information Administration

Please Contact me if you see any errors!

SOME ENERGY EQUIVALENTS

1 BTU = 1055 Joules
1 BTU = 252 calories
1 BTU = Amount in 1 Wood Match
1 KWH = 3414 BTUs
1 KW = 56.9 BTU/Minute
1 Watt = 3.414 BTU/H
1 Watt = One Joule per second
1 Watt = 10 Ergs per second
1 Horsepower = 745 Watts
1 Horsepower = 550 ft/lbs per sec
1 Horsepower = 33000 ft/lbs per minute
1 Horsepower = 178.2 Calories/Second
1 Horsepower = 10,692 Calories/Minute

A British Thermal Unit (BTU) is the amount of heat energy needed to raise the temperature of one pound of water by one degree F. This is the standard measurement used to state the amount of energy that a fuel has as well as the amount of output of any heat generating device.

A BTU or KWH is a measure of energy. A watt or Horsepower is a measure of work done.

(IE: Work done, watts, over a period of time, hours, equals an amount of energy: KWH)

A watt is the basic unit of electric, mechanical, or thermal power in the SI and MKS systems. One watt is the rate at which work is done when an object is moving at one meter per second against a force of one newton. - In the units of ampere and volt, work is done at a rate of one watt when one ampere flows through a potential difference of one volt. Equal to one volt-ampere.

For electric power: A Watt is the fundamental unit of electrical power, and is a rate unit, rather than a quantity.The wattage is determined by multiplying the voltage (E), as measured in volts (V), by the current (I), as measured in amperes (A).

ENERGY CONTENT OF SOME FUELS

1 Gallon of Gasoline contains 124,000 BTUs
1 Gallon of E85 Ethanol contains 84,000 BTUs (72% of gasoline)
1 Gallon of Fuel Oil (Heating) contains 140,000 BTUs
1 Gallon of LNG contains 75,000 BTUs
1 Ton of coal contains 20,000,000 BTUs
100 Cubic Feet of Natural Gas (Therm) contains 102,000 BTUs
100 Cubic Feet of Hydrogen contains 32,500 BTUs
100 Cubic Feet of Propane contains 250,000 BTUs
1 Cord of Hardwood Contains 24,000,000 BTUs
1 Cord of Softwood Contains 15,000,000 BTUs
1 Square foor of Sunshine in space contains 428 BTU/Hr or 127 Watts/Hr
1 Square foot of Sunshine on earth (US average) contains 298 BTU/Hr

ENERGY TRIVIA

A Boeing 747-400 burns aproximately 5 Gal of fuel per mile
An F-14 Tomcat at full throttle burns 80 Gal of fuel per Minute
A top Fuel Dragster gets the equivalent of 1/18 MPG (18Gal/Mile)
The fuel pump on that same Top Fuel car pumps 65 GPM
The average US household uses 92 Million BTUS of Energy per Year (2001)
48% of this countrys electricity is produced by coal. 20% is Nuclear
18% of electric production is from natural gas, and 11% is Hydroelectric
7% of our Total energy comes from renewable resources -
40% of ALL the energy we use comes from petroleum
Energy required for 1 Galaxy Class Warp drive: 4,857 Quadrillion BTUs/Minute

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF US ENERGY CONSUMPTION (From the EIA, Jan 2008) Every Day the US:

Uses 100,296 Terawatts of Eletricity
Uses 22 Millon Barrels of Oil - 42 Gal/Barrel
Uses 9 Millon Barrels of gasoline - 378 Million Gallons
Uses 4.3 Million barrels of Fuel Oil, includes diesel
Uses 1.5 Million barrels of Jet Fuel
Uses 312 thousand barrels of Asphalt
Uses 1.6 Millon barrels of Liquid Propane LPG
Uses 2.8 Million Tons of Coal
Uses 7.4 Billion Cubic Feet of Natural Gas

A COUPLE OF FINAL NOTES

This data is from a 2005 US Senate Investigate comittee report.
http://www.senate.gov/~gov_affairs/042902gasreport/sectioniii.pdf

This country has about 240 Million vehicles, and About 167,000 Gas Stations.
The average gas station sells 75,000 - 100,000 Gallons a Month.

Over 70 percent of Gasoline sales are at Convienence stores, for a total of $344 Billion in 2005

Branded Gas stations sold 52% of all gasoline in 2005

'Hypermarkets' - supermarkets, discount retailers and warehouse clubs Sold 11%

The average Gas Station makes 6-15 cents per gallon profit - Before credit card fees.

The US (4% of global population):

Used 98 quadrillion Btus of energy in 2003
39 quadrillion Btus of petroleum
23 quadrillion Btus of natural gas
23 quadrillion Btus of coal
8 quadrillion Btus of nuclear energy and
6 quadrillion Btus of renewable energy.

One quadrillion Btu is equal to 172 million barrels of crude oil