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.
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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 Warming 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.
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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. |
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