Pedal power - not the american dream

Capt'n Midnight

http://www.earthtoys.com/emagazine.php?issue_number=06.08.01&article=slaves

The average sustained power output of a human being is about one-tenth to one-twentieth of a horsepower (depending on how fit and well-fed you are). Let’s say you’re pretty strong, and you can sustain an output of one-tenth of a horsepower.

Last year, the 296 million people in the USA used 97 quadrillion BTUs of energy (the BTU, or British Thermal Unit, is a measure of energy equivalent to a kitchen match which allows us to compare different energy sources). To put that huge number into perspective, each of us used about 328 million BTUs during the year, the equivalent of 96,000 Kilowatt hours of electricity. A Kilowatt-hour is about 1/3 more work than a horsepower-hour, so we used about 128,640 horsepower-hours, or the equivalent of 147 energy slaves working for each of us 24/7, all year long.

But if you take into account an a 37.5 hour working week and holidays you get a figure of 750 people !

silverharp

the cheapness of energy is down to fossil fuels like oil and gas which give up to an 80/1 return on energy output v the energy input to extract. society should bear this in mind as reserves are being pissed away, that being said a large % of the energy consumed is not essential for life, just life as we know it.

Húrin

hmm... This "slavery" idea may just be the silver bullet we environmentalists have been looking for.

*ponders*