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An Energetic Year

In the year 2005 people traded 4.43e20 Joules (0.443 zetajoules) of primary energy(1).

By the close of 2005 there were 6,451,429,868 people living on planet Earth (2). We needed to consume food containing a total of 2.47e19 Joules (24.7 exajoules) of energy to stay alive.

This amounts to 4.68e20 joules (0.468 zetajoules) or a continual 1.48e13 Watts (14.8 terawatts) of energy to sustain our species.

Both our consumption and population continue to rise. Can our supply of fuel and food keep up?

1.48e13 Watts is
822 dams like the 3 Gorges dam
6166 stations like Darlington Nuclear
7400 water falls like Niagara falls
4.68e20 Joules is
50 exploding volcanoes
5 000 tons of fissioned uranium
10 000 000 space shuttle launches

(1) BP Statistical Review

(2) US Census Bureau

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