ecoglobe Energy Conversion Tables

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		Why do we need conversion tables? There is a confusing manyfold of different energy and power units. Some provide meaning and useful reference for daily life. But science and business are often using units that are meaningless for most people, such as Gigajoules or Barrels of crude oil or Wattyear. For a meaningful discussion on energy problems we must understand each other.This page should help with some easy definitions and conversions.   Energy and Power [top] [Conversions] ENERGY is the capability of doing work. ENERGY UNITS are kilocalories (kcal), Kilowatthours (kWh) of electricity, British thermal units (Btu), Joules (J), etc. ENERGY EQUIVALENTS are barrels of petroleum, Quads, tons of bitumous coal, cubic meters of natural gas, etc. POWER is the (potential) speed of work, i.e. the (capacity to) work per unit of time. Power can also be defined as the rate of energy transfer. POWER UNITS are Watt (W), British Horspower (BHP), Pferdestärke (PS), etc. POWER USE Power is the amount of energy used over a period of time. There are several forms of energy , such as - human and animal energy (A suffient diet provides an adult human with some 2500 kilocalories per day. Approx. 1600 kcal energy is needed for maintaining our body and life functions. The remainder of some 900 kcal is vailable for performing "work", which includes walking, climbing stairs, household and on the farm, and work in a factory or office. This work energy per day is about the same as 1 kilowatthour (1 kWh). A kilowatthour is the energy consumed by a 100 Watt lightbulb that burns for 10 hours (1 kW is 1000 Watt) - biological (foodstuffs, including cereals, vegetables, meat, fish, etc., wood, cow dung, etc.) - motion (= kinetic) (wind, water, a rotating flywheel, a motorcar at a certain speed) - fossil fuels (coal, oil, natural gas, uranium), - chemical (a battery, a fuel cell, explosives) - electrical (factually a form of motion energy - the motion of electrons, mostly produced by the motion of a turbine, which in turn is driven by steam, water, or wind) If the energy is stored, e.g. in coal or in fat or in potatoes, it can be either used or saved for later. Motion energy can be stored, e.g. by pumping water to a higher level dam.   Conversions [top] [Energy & Power] POWER CONVERSIONS: Values marked with # are exact. Other values are given to an appropriate degree of accuracy. 1 Kilowatthour (kWh) = 3.60 Megajoules (MJ) = 3.600 000 J #   Prefixes: Giga, Exa ...? [top] [Energy & Power] [Conversions] K = Kilo = 103 (= 10 to the power 3 = 1000 = one thousand) M = Mega = 106 (= 1000000 = a million) G = Giga = 109 (= a thousand million = a milliard in Europa, a billion in the USA) T = Tera = 1012 (= a one with twelve zeros) P = Peta = 1015 (= a one with fifteen zeros) E = Exa = 1018 (= a one with eighteen zeros) For the whole list see Vermischtes, put on the web by Stadtammannamt und Betreibungsamt Zürich 2   Nuclear measurements [top]   Energy tables web sites: [top] A Dictionary of Units and Measures solarexpert.com/conversions.html Gas energy tables (LPG, Natural Gas and LPG/Air Mixtures www.allmeasures.com www.shodor.org/UNChem/unit_conv_tab.html www.gameco.com.au/tech/convtbl.htm www.techexpo.com/techdata/conversn.html Uni of San Diego Infodome jalyn.com Energy Synopsis A web site is never finished. Please help us to make it better and send us your suggestions. On-line feedback | Email feedback Thanks!
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10MAR2002
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