Before we study the Global Warming issue, as a “warm up” we are going to verify if the order of magnitude of the worldwide power of energy production which appears to be 1.5 x E13 [W] in 2008 is correct.
In order to perform this verification, we are going to use the worldwide consumption balances, considering all uses and all energies.
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The ton of oil equivalent (TOE) is a consumption unit that corresponds to the quantity of heat released by the combustion of a ton of oil.
One TOE = 11,600 [kWh]
Question
The worldwide energetic power produced in 2005 is: 1.4 x E13 [W]
Explanation:
P = 4.38 x E20 / 365 x 24 x 3,600 = 1.4 x E13 [W]
According to the I.E.A. graph, worldwide energy consumption in 2005 amounted to 10,500,000,000 tons of oil equivalent (TOE)
One TOE corresponds to 11,600 [kWh]
One kWh corresponds to 3,600,000 [J]
The worldwide energy consumption in 2005 was therefore:
Q= 10,500,000,000 x 11,600 x 3,600,000 = 4.38 x E20 [J]
The corresponding power was:
P = Q/t
Considering the worldwide energy consumption, the power produced in 2005 was of 1.4 x E13 [W], the estimation of 1.5 x E13 [W] in 2008 is therefore coherent.