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Useful Energy Numbers
Here are some numbers to help you in energy analysis.
Some equivalences:
| 1 BTU | 252.16 calories | .25 Calories (kcal) | 1.055 kilojoules |
| 1 gallon gas | 125,000 BTU | 132 Megajoules | |
| 1 kilowatt-hour | 3413 BTU (equivalence) | 10399 BTU at generator (DoE) | |
| One solar peak watt | 2 kWh/year in California | 21.2 cents/year @ U.S. average | |
| MPG | 125,000/(BTUs per mile) | 235/(litres per 100km) | |
| 1 gallon gas | 1.44 gal ethanol | .89 gal diesel | 1.05 gal biodiesel |
The Google Calculator can do many units conversions for you.
Some useful facts:
- A typical car is estimated about 120M BTUs for manufacture, equivalent to 1,000 gallons of gas. This goes up with weight, also up with special metals like nickel.
- U.S. Agriculture burns 400 gallons of gas equivalent for each American.
- One Calorie of average food thus consumes 10 Calories of fossil fuel energy.
- Refining and transport takes 22% of energy (ie. 82% of energy from the well reaches your tank.)
- 10,400 BTUs of heat in a generator produces 1 kw-hour of electricity at the home.