The Energy Blog Technical Reference Page
A collection of things you might find useful.
Energy Unit Conversions
- 1 BTU = 1055 Joules
- 1 BTU = 252 calories
- 1 BTU = Amount in 1 Wood Match
- 1 KWH = 3414 BTU
- 1 KW = 56.9 BTU/Minute
- 1 Watt = 3.414 BTU/Hour
- 1 Watt = One Joule per second
- 1 Watt = 10 Ergs per second
- 1 Horsepower = 745 Watts
- 1 Horsepower = 2,543 BTUs per Hour
- 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
- 1 U.S. gallon has 231 cubic inches or 3.785 liters.
Energy content of some fuels
- 1 Gallon of Gasoline contains 124,000 BTUs
- 1 Gallon of E85 Ethanol contains 84,400 BTUs (72% of gasoline)
- 1 Gallon of Methanol contains 62,800 BTUs
- 1 Gallon of Fuel Oil (Heating) contains 140,000 BTUs
- 1 Gallon of LNG contains 75,000 BTUs
- 1 Ton of coal contains 16,000,000 to 26,000,000 BTUs
- 100 Cubic Feet of Natural Gas (Therm) contains 100,000 BTUs
- 100 Cubic Feet of Hydrogen contains 32,500 BTUs
- 100 Cubic Feet of Propane contains 250,000 BTUs
- 1 Kilogram of Hydrogen contains 125,000 BTUs
- 1 Kilogram of hydrogen is 11.1 Cubic Meters (392 Cu Ft) at atm pressure.
- 1 Cord of Hardwood Contains 24,000,000 BTUs
- 1 Cord of Softwood Contains 15,000,000 BTUs
- 1 Square foot of Sunshine in space contains 428 BTU/Hr or 127 Watts
- 1 Square foot of Sunshine on earth (US average) contains 298 BTU/Hr or 87 watts
1 standard cord of wood= 8 feet x 4 feet x 4 feet = 128 cu feet = approx 4,000 pounds
1 face cord of wood= 8 feet x 4 feet x 16 inches = 42.7 cu feet = approx 1,333 pounds
1 cord of wood contains the same energy as 192 Kilograms of hydrogen in 1/600th the space
Some more energy related measurements
- 1 barrel (bbl) = 42 gallons = 5.615 cubic feet = 159.0 liters
- 1 barrel (oil) = 6,000,000 BTUs
- 1 short ton (ton) = 2,000 pounds = 6.65 barrels (crude oil)
- 1 metric ton (tonn) = 2,200 pounds
- 1 therm = 100,000 Btu
- 1 ton of TNT equivalent is equal to 4,186 megajoules or 3,967,772 BTUs
- 1 quad = 1 quadrillion Btu = 1015 Btu or 293,071 Gigawatts
- 1 kilowatt-hour (kWh) = 1,000 watt-hours
- 1 megawatt-hour (MWh) = 1,000 kWh or 1,000,000 watt-hours
- 1 gigawatt-hour (GWh) = 1,000 MWh or 1,000,000,000 watt-hours
- 1 terawatt-hour (TWh) = 1,000 GWh or 1,000,000,000,000 watt-hours
A quadrillion is 1,000,000,000,000,000 (one thousand million million; 1015; SI prefix is peta-)
One Quad is:
- 8,007,000,000 Gallons (US) of gasoline
- 293,071,000,000 Kilowatt-hours (kWh)
- 36,000,000 Tons of coal
- 970,434,000,000 Cubic feet of natural gas
The US uses 5.05 quads of energy a month or 60.6 quads per year.
Some interesting Energy Factoids
- A Boeing 747-400 burns aproximately 5 Gal of fuel per mile
- A Class 1 freight train uses 341 BTU's to move 1 ton one mile. (USDOT)
- A Typical Semi Truck uses 3,357 BTU's to move 1 ton one mile. (USDOT)
- A Boeing 747 Freighter uses 9,600 BTU's to move 1 ton one mile. (USDOT)
- 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
- 78% of the oil we use is used for transportation.
- Energy required for 1 Galaxy Class Warp drive: 4,857 Quadrillion BTUs/Minute
Gasoline Gallon Equivalents |
Fuel Type | Unit of Measure | BTUs/Unit | Gallon Equivalent |
Gasoline (regular) | gallon | 114,100 | 1.00 gallon |
Diesel #2 | gallon | 129,500 | 0.88 gallons |
Biodiesel (B100) | gallon | 118,300 | 0.96 gallons |
Biodiesel (B20) | gallon | 127,250 | 0.90 gallons |
Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) | cubic foot | 900 | 126.67 cu. ft. |
Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) | gallon | 75,000 | 1.52 gallons |
Propane (LPG) | gallon | 84,300 | 1.35 gallons |
Ethanol (E100) | gallon | 76,100 | 1.50 gallons |
Ethanol (E85) | gallon | 81,800 | 1.39 gallons |
Methanol (M100) | gallon | 56,800 | 2.01 gallons |
Methanol (M85) | gallon | 65,400 | 1.74 gallons |
Electricity | kilowatt hour(kWh) | 3,414 | 33.56 kWhs |
U.S. Energy use for the month of October 2009 |
Type of energy | Trillions of BTU's | Millions of Megawatt Hours | Amount |
Electricity | 1,200 | 351 | Not Applicable |
Natural Gas | 1,800 | 527 | 1.8 Trillion Cubic Ft |
Gasoline | 1,364 | 399 | 11 Billion Gallons |
Diesel Fuel | 700 | 205 | 6.2 Billion Gallons |
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Totals | 5,064 | 1,482 | A bunch!! |
Some useful and fun external links
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