Conversion factors and definitions

Conversion factors useful on this website.

Wherever possible we have converted everything to metric and tried to standardise on some units such as MJ/KG.

However when importing charts it is very difficult to convert the units embedded on the axes.

 

The word "gas"

When the word gas is used on this website it will always refer to a gas as a state of matter, i.e. gas, liquid, solid, never as gasoline. Gasoline will be called petrol / gasoline with words separated to make searches on either word possible.

Glossary of atmospheric terms

Mass

1 Tonne 1.102 US ton or short ton
1 Tonne 0.98 UK ton or long ton
1 Tonne 1,000 KG
1 Tonne 2204 lb - pounds
1 Ton US 0.907 tonne
1 ton UK 1.016 tonne
1 TCM methane 0.73 billion tonnes methane
1 BCM methane 0.73 million tonnes methane
1 TCF methane 20.6 million tonnes methane

 

Global Warmin​g Potentials

 
CO2 = 1                       HFC-23 = 11,700
CH4 = 21                      HFC-125 = 2,800
N2 O = 310                   HFC-134a = 1,300
CF4 = 6,500                  HFC-143a = 3,800
C2F6 = 9,200
SF6 = 23,900

Converting element basis to molecular mass 

C → CO2 : x 44/12 = 3.67     CO2 → C: x 12/44 = 0.27

C → CH4 : x 16/12 = 1.33      CH4 → C: x 12/16 = 0.75

N2 → N2O: x 44/28 = 1.57       N2O → N: x 28/44 = 0.64
Because these chemical species don't persist, the numbers depend on what period is considered.





What is needed to produce various CO2 levels

CO2

CO2 

CH4 

Carbon  

Coal 

Oil  

CH4 burnt 

Methane  leaked  

  

 CO2

 CO2

 

CH4 leaked

 

CO2 eq

 

ppm

GT

GT

GT

GT

GT

GT 

GT

 

GT

ppm

 

GT

ppm
1 8 0.15 2 2 2 3 0   1 0.13   1 6.59
2 15 0.30 4 5 5 6 0.3   2 0.26   2 13.18
3 23 0.46 6 7 7 8 0.5   3 0.40   3 19.77
4 30 0.61 8 10 10 11 0.6   4 0.53   4 26.36
5 38 0.76 10 12 12 14 0.8   5 0.66   5 32.95
6 46 0.91 12 15 14 17 0.9   6 0.79   6 39.55
7 53 1.06 14 17 17 19 1.1   7 0.92   7 46.14
8 61 1.21 17 19 19 22 1.2   8 1.05   8 52.73
9 68 1.37 19 22 21 25 1.4   9 1.19   9 59.32
10 76 1.52 21 24 24 28 1.5   10 1.32   10 65.91
20 152 3.03 41 49 48 55 3.0   20 2.64   20 131.82
30 228 4.55 62 73 71 83 4.6   30 3.95   30 197.73
40 303 6.07 83 97 95 110 6.1   40 5.27   40 263.64
50 379 7.59 103 122 119 138 7.6   50 6.59   50 329.55

ppm of CO2 warming produced by CO2 or Methane CH4




ppm CO2

GT CO2

GT CH4

 -

-

GT CO2

ppm CO2

 -

-

GT CH4

ppm CO2eq
1 8 0.15  

 

 1 0.13     1 6.59
2 15 0.30     2 0.26     2 13.18
3 23 0.46     3 0.40     3 19.77
4 30 0.61     4 0.53     4 26.36
5 38 0.76     5 0.66     5 32.95
6 46 0.91     6 0.79     6 39.55
7 53 1.06     7 0.92     7 46.14
8 61 1.21     8 1.05     8 52.73
9 68 1.37     9 1.19     9 59.32
10 76 1.52     10 1.32     10 65.91
20 152 3.03     20 2.64     20 131.82
30 228 4.55     30 3.95     30 197.73
40 303 6.07     40 5.27     40 263.64
50 379 7.59     50 6.59     50 329.55

 

The mass of the atmosphere is: 

5 x 1018 KG

5 x 1015 tonnes,

5 x 106 GT

5 GT of CO2 would be 1ppm by mass.

To convert to volume (i.e. mole) multiply 5 by 44/29 (MW CO2/MW air) = 7.6 GT.

​1 ppm (vol) is produced by 7.6 GT or CO2

1 ppm CO2eq (equivalent) is produced by 0.13 GT of methane

(over 60 years it is about 50 x warmer than CO2)

Greenhouse Warming Potential

25 year 72 X. 100 yr 25X, 500 yr 7.6 X the GWP of CO2 

Energy

1 kilojoule 1,000 Joules - thousand
1 megajoule 1,000,000 Joules - million
1 gigajoule 1,000,000,000 Joules - billion
1 BTU/LB 2.32 Kilojoule/KG
1 BTU/LB 0.00232 Megajoule/KG
1 Tonne Oil Equivalent TOE 42 GJ
SI multiples for joule (J) Wikipedia
Submultiples   Multiples
Value Symbol Name Value Symbol Name
10−1 J dJ decijoule 101 J daJ decajoule
10−2 J cJ centijoule 102 J hJ hectojoule
10−3 J mJ millijoule 103 J kJ kilojoule
10−6 J µJ microjoule 106 J MJ megajoule
10−9 J nJ nanojoule 109 J GJ gigajoule
10−12 J pJ picojoule 1012 J TJ terajoule
10−15 J fJ femtojoule 1015 J PJ petajoule
10−18 J aJ attojoule 1018 J EJ exajoule
10−21 J zJ zeptojoule 1021 J ZJ zettajoule
10−24 J yJ yoctojoule 1024 J YJ yottajoule

1 toe = 11,630 kilowatt hours
1 toe = 41.87 gigajoules
1 toe = 39,683,205.411 BTU
1 toe = 7.11, 7.33, or 7.4 barrel of oil equivalent (boe)
1 tonne petroleum equivalent (TPE), as used in renewable energy, 45.217 GJ (gigajoules).

 

  • 1 barrel of oil equivalent (boe) contains approximately 0.146 toe (i.e. there are approximately 6.841 boe in a toe).
  • 1 t diesel = 1.01 toe
  • 1 m3 diesel = 0.98 toe
  • 1 t petrol = 1.05 toe
  • 1 m3 petrol = 0.86 toe
  • 1 t biodiesel = 0.86 toe
  • 1 m3 biodiesel = 0.78 toe
  • 1 t bioethanol = 0.64 toe
  • 1m3 bioethanol = 0.51 toe[3]
  • 1 MWh = 0.086 toe [4] (therefore 1 toe = 11630.0 KWh) [5]
  • at thermal power plant, 1 MWh generated with 0.22 toe fuel or 0.39 MWh with 0.086 toe[6] (39% thermal to electrical conversion efficiency)

 

It is important to note that toe should be used carefully when converting electrical units - for instance, BP's 2007 report used a factor of 38% efficiency (the average efficiency of OECD thermal generating units in 2006), or roughly 16 GJ per toe, when converting kilowatt-hours to toe.[7]

​Wikipedia
Mass or volume gas Energy & other
1 cubic metre of gas  38 megajoules as methane
44 megajoules as W.A. NWS LNG
1 billion cubic metres of natural gas 730 000 tonnes of LNG
1 Trillion Cubic Feet (TCF)
Approx. 1 000 petajoules
Approx. 20 million tonnes
1 tonne of gas 1 333 cubic metres
1 terajoule
 26 300 cubic metres of gas
0.929 million cubic feet of natural gas
17.63 tonnes of LNG
1 MCF (thousand cubic feet) of gas (and 1MMSFD = 1 million cubic feet per day)  28 317 cubic metres
19.39 tonne of LNG
1 057 Gigajoules
1.1 Terajoules
1 tonne of LNG 1 460 cubic metres (at 20ºC) (or 1 333 at 0ºC)
54.5 Gigajoules
9.5 bbl of Arab crude oil by energy equivalence
51.7 MMBTUs
1 tonne of crude oil
7.33 bbls
42.1 gigajoules
1 MMBTU
1.055 Gigajoules
3.6 gigajoule
1 MWh
1 petajoule (1 terajoule) ca. 20 000 tonnes (20 tonnes) gas
1 terajoule of gas per day ca. 7 200 tonnes per year.
1 million tonnes of LNG per year 1.333 billion cubic metres per year
3.65 million cubic metres of natural gas per day
100 MW power station (33% efficiency) ca. 25 terajoules per day (10 Gigajoules/1MWh)
Coal ca. 20 Gigajoules per tonne
Condensate
ca. 32 Megajoules per Litre
Crude oil
ca. 37 Megajoules per Litre
LNG
ca 25 Megajoules per Litre
Natural gas ca. 38 Megajoules per Cubic Metre
 
Average Energy Conversion Factors
  U.S. Customary Unit Metric Equivalent
Crude oil 1 barrel 0.1364 metric tons
5.75 gigajoules
Coal 1 short ton 0.9072 metric tons
Natural gas 1 cubic foot 0.0283 cubic meters
Natural gas plant liquids 1 barrel 0.0862 metric tons
Btu/joule 1 Btu 1 055.1 joules
Petroleum products
Motor gasoline 1 barrel 0.1172 metric tons
Distillate fuel oil 1 barrel 0.1340 metric tons
Residual fuel oil 1 barrel 0.1502 metric tons

 

  cubic metre cubic foot gas million Btu therm gigajoule kilowatt hour cubic metre of LNG ton of LNG
1 cubic meter gas  1 35.3 0.036 0.36 0.038 10.54 0.00171 0.000725
1 cubic foot gas  0.0283 1 0.00102 0.0102 0.00108 0.299 0.00005 0.00002
1-million Btu  27.8 981 1 10 1.054 292.7 0.048 0.0192
1 therm  2.78 98.1 0.1 1 0.105448 29.27 0.0048 0.00192
1 gigajoule  26.3 930 0.95 9.5 1 277.5 0.045 0.018
1 kilowatt hour  0.0949 3.3 0.003415 0.03418 0.0036 1 0.000162 0.000065
1 cubic meter LNG  584 20 631 21.04 210.4 22.19 6,173 1 0.405
1 ton LNG  1,379 48 690 52 520 54.8 15 222 2.47 1
1 barrel Arabian Lt.  0.152 5 350 5.46 54.6 5.75 1 597 0.259 0.105
1 ton Arabian 
Lt. 		 1.111 39 218 40 400 42.2 11 708 1.9 0.769

    

Source: Energy Information Administration, Annual Energy Review 1995, DOE/EIA­0384(95) (Washington, DC, July 1996), Appendix B.