Charts and numbers are something most eco-peeps just can't get enough of, and neither can't I. This information is a little bit outdated, since it is based on the situation in 2005/2002 but it still gives a pretty nice picture.




The graph shows us that back in 2005 we had a global energy consumption of 15.1 teraWatt. What does this number mean? I grabbed my calculator and went to work.


15.1 teraWatt equals:




  • 15.1 trillion Watt (short scale, US)

  • 15.1 billion Watt (long Scale, Europe)

  • 15 100 000 000 000 Watt

  • 15.1 teraJoule per second

  • 2500 Barrel of oil equivalents per second

  • 390 000 L of oil equivalents per second

  • 105 000 US Gallon of oil equivalents per second

  • 340 Metric tonne of oil equivalents per second

  • 126  billion computers on at the same time, all the time

  • 1.9 trillion 8 watt CFL bulbs on at the same time, all the time

  • 214 times driving around the world in a prius, per second


If you want to get a picture of the actual amounts of oil used, simply take 32,6 % (see picture) of the oil equivalents I mentioned. If these numbers still don't seem very impressive then please remember there are about 31.5 million seconds in a year.