These numbers are the sort of things I use all the time to calculate the impact of different activities.
Contents: - Energy consumption - GHG emissions - Fuel density and GHG emissions intensity - Passenger travel emission factors - Freight emission factors - UK population - Water energy properties - Greenhouse gases GWPPWh/year | MWh/person/year | kWh/person/day | continuous kW | population | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
World primary energy | 160 | 20 | 55 | 2.3 | 8 billion |
UK primary energy | 2.0 | 30 | 82 | 3.4 | 67 million |
UK final energy | 1.5 | 23 | 63 | 2.6 |
World data from Our world in data (data for 2022)
UK data from Statista, data for 2021
Primary energy consumption counts fuel used to generate and transmit electricity rather than the electricity itself. The final energy consumption is what is actually delivered.
Mt/year | t/person/year | kg/person/day | |
---|---|---|---|
World (total) | 54,000 | 6.8 | 18.5 |
World (from energy use) | 36,800 | 4.6 | 12.6 |
UK total | 502 | 7.5 | 20.5 |
World data from EDGAR - Emissions Database for Global Atmospheric Research: GHG emissions of all world countries 2023 report and IEA CO2 emissions in 2022s. UK data from UK Environment Accounts (for 2021)
Electricity (delivered) | 207 | gCO2e/kWh |
Electricity (inc generation and losses) | 257 | gCO2e/kWh |
Gas (HHV) | 180 | gCO2e/kWh |
Heating oil (HHV) | 270 | gCO2e/kWh |
Coal (HHV) | 340 | gCO2e/kWh |
Petrol (biofuel blend) | 2100 | gCO2e/litre |
Petrol (LHV) | 9.4 | kWh/litre |
Petrol (LHV) | 230 | gCO2e/kWh |
Diesel (biofuel blend) | 2510 | gCO2e/litre |
Diesel (LHV) | 10.6 | kWh/litre |
Diesel (LHV) | 250 | gCO2e/kWh |
Oil | 11630 | kWh/tonne |
Oil | 1600 | kWh/barrel |
From UK Government GHG Conversion Factors for Company Reporting 2023
Air travel includes radiative forcing
gCO2e/km | |
---|---|
Average diesel car | 167 |
Average petrol car | 177 |
Average hybrid car | 109 |
Bus (local) | 118 |
Bus (London) | 78 |
National rail | 35 |
International rail | 4.5 |
Airline domestic | 273 |
Airline short haul (economy) | 183 |
Airline long haul (economy) | 200 |
Souce as above. This data varies from year to year, for example as vehicles become more efficient.
Freight by tonnage (average laden)
gCO2e/tonne-km | |
---|---|
HGV Articulated(average laden) | 75 |
HGV Rigid (average laden) | 178 |
Light van (diesel) | 571 |
Light van (petrol) | 720 |
Rail | 28 |
Ship general | 13 |
Ship bulk | 3.5 |
Ship container | 16 |
Ship refrigerated | 13 |
Air short haul | 1668 |
Air long haul | 1099 |
Freight vehicles by distance
gCO2e/km | |
---|---|
HGV Articulated (average laden) | 835 |
HGV Rigid (average laden) | 906 |
Light van (diesel) | 231 |
Light van (petrol) | 201 |
From DeFRA as above
67,000,000 | people (2021) |
28,200,000 | households (2021) |
Population and households from the ONS
specific heat | 4.2 | kJ/kg/K |
specific heat | 0.00117 | kWh/kg/K |
latent heat vaporisation | 2260 | kJ/kg |
latent heat vaporisation | 0.628 | kWh/kg |
20 year | 100 year | |
---|---|---|
Methane | 81-83 | 27-30 |
Nitrous oxide | 273 | 273 |
From IPCC Sixth Assessment Report (via ERCC)
The GWP is a measure of the global warming impact of a gas relative to CO2e (by mass, comparing 1 kg of the gas with 1 kg of CO2e). This depends on the timescale as well because different gases have different lifetimes in the atmosphere. For example methane has a half life of about 12 years and over a longer timescale it has less effect.