P310/510 Environmental Physics - Ben Brabson - August 27, 2009

Interesting Energies
1 Joule = Energy to raise a small apple by 1 meter. (A small apple weighs about 1 Newton)
1055 Joules = 1 BTU (British Thermal Unit = energy to heat a pound of water by 1oF)
4186 Joules = 1 Kcal (Kilocalorie = energy to heat 1 Kg water by 1oC)
106 Joules = about 1 Jelly Doughnut
1.32 x 108 Joules = 1 Gallon of Gasoline [130 Jelly Doughnuts]
5 x 109 Joules = Kinetic Energy of a 747 Jet plane = 1 bbl oil
3 x 1010 Joules = 1 Gallon of Ocean water (DD Fusion) = 230 gal gasoline.
3.5 x 1011 Joules = Energy use per person per year in the USA.
3 x 1016Joules = Electric energy from a 1 GWe power plant in a year. (109 Watts)
1.055 x 1018 Joules = 1015 Btu = 1 quadrillion Btu = 1 quad = 1 qBtu
100 qBtu/year = US Energy Consumption in 2008
450 qBtu/year = World Energy Consumption in 2008
Worldwide average energy use per person = 1.7 toe/person/yr
where 1 toe = 1 tonne of oil equivalent = 41.868 x 109 Joules
2 x 1023 Joules = World's Fossil Fuel Supply [~2 weeks of Solar = 1 Fossil Fuel Supply]

Relative Energy Densities:
Gasoline: 44 MJ/kg                   Crude Oil 43 MJ/kg
Natural Gas 53 MJ/kg
Butter 28.6 MJ/kg                       Sugar 16 MJ/kg (Note that Sugar is ~1/2 Oxygen by weight)
Bread 10 MJ/kg                           Dung 15 MJ/kg
Garbage 12 MJ/kg                     Methanol 20 MJ/kg
Coal 23 - 29 MJ/kg
   (= 10,000-13,000 Btu/pound)

Oxidation of Fuels: [1.]
Carbon:
     C + O2 ---> CO2 +  95 Kcal/mole of C		  7.9 Kcal/gm of C
Hydrogen:
      2 H2 + O2 ---> 2 H2O + 68 Kcal/mole of H2		  34 Kcal/gm of H2
Gasoline:
2 C8H18 +25 O2--->16 CO2 +18 H2O + 1254 Kcal/mole		  11 Kcal/gm of C8H18
Glucose:
C6H12O6 + 6 O2 ---> 6 H2O + 6 CO2 + 690 Kcal/mole		 3.9 Kcal/gm of glucose
Fusion:
4 (11H) ---> (41H) + e+e+nn + 28 MeV or 
[321,000,000 Kcal/mole of H2]		 161,000,000 Kcal/gm of H2

[1.] Kraushaar and Ristinen, Energy and Problems of a Technical Society, Ch. 1.