Energy Examples

The following table gives “real-world” examples of the quantities of energy and power represented by metric units (Joules and Watts) modified by metric prefixes.

Modifier			Primary Energy examples		Power examples
	Name	Value	Unit	Example, energy sufficient to	Unit	*Example, about* the power of:**
E	exa	10¹⁸	Exa.Joule	Australia’s annual crude oil consumption = 1.5 Exa.Joules. Australia’s annual coal consumption = 1.75 Exa.Joules. Solar energy falling on Australia in two minutes = 1 Exa.Joule	Exa.Watt
P	peta	10¹⁵	PetaJoule	Australia’s annual natural gas consumption = 800 Peta.Joules.	PetaWatt	peak solar power falling on Australia is over 8 PetaWatts
T	tera	10¹²	TeraJoule	medium factory gas use in one year.	TeraWatt	peak solar power falling on all Australian buildings (ie 20 times electrical requirements)
			100 GJ	An average car will use about 50 GJ of fuel per year.	100 GW	peak solar power falling on Australian home roofs is about 400 GW the total Australian maximum electrical demand is around 50 GW.
			10 GJ	gas consumption of efficient home (10-30 GJ) in one year	10 GW	peak electrical demand of NSW
G	Giga	10⁹	GigaJoule	solar energy falling on a Hobart home roof in one day in Winter.	GigaWatt	medium-large power station. total peak output of Australia’s domestic solar water heaters.
			100 MJ	coal used to supply average home with electricity for one day.	100 MW	small power station / large cogeneration plant
			10 MJ	a ten minute shower	10 MW	largest factories
M	Mega	10⁶	Mega.Joule	run a large TV or a PC for one hour	1 MegaWatt	largest city building, medium hospital, medium-large factory.
			100 kJ	make a cup of tea with a gas kettle. primary energy to charge transistor battery.	100 kW	electricity for medium office building. peak solar power on same building
			10 kJ		10 kW	large electric water heater, peak demand of medium-large home.
k	kilo	10³	kiloJoule		1 kiloWatt	domestic heater or air-conditioner. The peak solar energy falling on 1m² of the earth. /p>
<		100	100 Joule		100 Watts	desktop computer, incandescent light, person standing.
		10	10 Joule		10 Watts	notebook computer, VCR,
–	–	(=1)	Joule		1 Watt	transistor radio (~5 W).