Sunday, January 08, 2006

Daily Energy Use








Some numbers:
1 BTU = 1055 joules
1 kCal = 4186 joules
1 shower = 4000 BTU = 2.2 Litres of apple juice
My commute distance = 19 km one way

Darren J 1/08/2006 09:26:00 PM


What about the energy to draw your shower water from the lake, purify it, and pump it up to Lawrence? Plus the energy used producing your shampoo and soap? :) Just kidding man. This is a great post. I'll try to link it if I ever find time to post... I've been bookmarking news articles all over the place but haven't had a chance to "blog" them yet.
Wow- that is a really cool way of thinking about things. How much energy is required to power a bus filled with people? Do you divide the energy by the number of people transported? Any idea?
Joe, you cause me so much pain! It is true though; there are lots of costs I've left out, like car manufacturing and materials, etc.

That would be great to work out how much energy is used to take the bus or subway. It would take a lot more research and on buses and trains, but I guess that's what the internet is good for. I could look at it by my particular route to work or by the average public transit rider. Hmmm.
You should start an energy blog called "Apple Juice" or "Turn-On-The-Juice" or something. :) It's crazy when you start thinking about how much energy is involved in all parts of life.
Here's a table I got from from Bicycle Science (using gasoline):

A bike at 15 mph gets 840 mpg (357 km/l)

Do you mind if I copy one of your graphics for a link to this post from Cyclelicious?
Feel free Fritz! Thanks for asking.

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