ENERGY CONSUMPTION:
How much energy did you consume today?
Every
day, every person on earth needs food to fuel his
or her body. Most people also use some share of the world's
energy resources—including fossil fuels, nuclear power,
and renewable resources—to carry out their daily activities.
How big a share of these resources an individual consumes, directly
or indirectly, depends a lot on where and how that
individual lives.
In the United States, each person consumes an average of 111
million BTUs (British Thermal Units) of energy per year or over
300,000 BTUs per day. That's a very big number, but what does it
mean? It's enough to keep thirty seven 100-watt light bulbs
burning all the time. Of course most of us don't have thirty seven
light bulbs burning all the time. So where does the energy
go?
Every
day, every person on earth needs food to fuel his
or her body. Most people also use some share of the world's
energy resources—including fossil fuels, nuclear power,
and renewable resources—to carry out their daily activities.
How big a share of these resources an individual consumes, directly
or indirectly, depends a lot on where and how that
individual lives. 