Name_____________________________________________Date__________________________Block_______
Objective: To estimate the amount of fossil fuel you consume directly and indirectly, through transportation, electrical appliances, and home heating.
Background: The economics of the industrialized world run on fossil fuel. The fossil fuels ________, ________ and_______________ were formed millions of years ago by decaying plants and animals, have provided modern people with a supply of stored energy from the sun. Fossil fuels have allowed us to move from a society based primarily on living plants and animals to one that is based on fossil fuels. Special conditions that existed when coal, gas and petroleum formed are not present now, so they can no longer form in any significant amounts. Furthermore, formation of fossil fuels is a very slow process, too slow for any replacement to keep up with current use. Because fossil fuel reserves are limited and cannot be replaced they are said to be a _____-
_______________ resource. Limited supplies are however not the only concerns. When fossil fuels are burned, they produce ________________ gas, the principal contributor to the greenhouse effect. Increases in atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide have been observed during this century and threaten to cause global warming. Other gases emitted by fossil fuels contribute to air pollution and acid rain. Coal mining, particularly above ground, called strip mining damages the landscape while dust and noxious gases in underground mines are hazardous to miners’ health. Many people are concerned that our dependence on oil mostly from the
Middle East makes us vulnerable to politics of that area.
Procedure: Bring an energy bill to class the next class. Perform ALL calculations neatly on separate sheet of paper and show ALL work.
1.
To estimate the amount of fossil fuel you consume in transportation: a.
Divide the number of miles you drive in one year (use partners data if you don’t drive) by the
number of miles per gallon your car gets to find the number of gallons of fuel you use in a year. b.
Multiply the number of gallons of fuel you use per year by 125,000BTU (the amount of energy in one gallon of gasoline) to find the number of BTUs you use in a year.
Calculation Guide for transportation energy:
𝑀𝑖𝑙𝑒𝑠 𝑑𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑛
𝑥
1 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟
1 𝐺𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑛 =
𝑀𝑖𝑙𝑒𝑠
𝐺𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑓𝑢𝑒𝑙
1 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟
x 125,000 BTU = Transportation Energy BTU/ year
2.
To estimate the amount of fossil fuel equivalent to the energy you consume in electrical appliances: a.
Use the table on “Energy requirements of household electric appliances” to find the appliances you and your family use. b.
Add the values for each appliance to find your annual energy consumption for electrical appliances in kilowatt-hours per year (kWh/yr). c.
Multiply the number of kilowatt-hours per year by 3411 (the number of BTUs in one kilowatt hour) to find the number of BTUs of electrical energy you use annually.
Calculation Guide for appliance energy:
𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑘𝑊ℎ
𝑥 ℎ𝑟
24 ℎ𝑟
1 𝑑𝑎𝑦 𝑥
365 𝑑𝑎𝑦𝑠
1 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟
= 𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑘𝑊ℎ/𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟 X 3411 = Total Appliance Energy BTU / year

3.
To estimate the amount of fossil fuel you consume in home heating: a.
If your home is heated by electricity convert the kilowatt-hours (from electric bill) to BTUs by following step #2 (this is not the most common form of home heating) b.
If your home is heated by natural gas use your monthly energy bill and follow the information to
convert your fuel use into BTUs per year.
1 therm = 100 cubic feet of natural gas
1 cubic foot of natural gas = 1,020 BTU
Calculation Guide for heat energy:
𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑚𝑠 𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑑
𝑥
𝑀𝑜𝑛𝑡ℎ
100 𝑐𝑢𝑏𝑖𝑐 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑡 𝑔𝑎𝑠
𝑥
1 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑚
1,020 𝐵𝑇𝑈
1 𝑐𝑢𝑏𝑖𝑐 𝑓𝑜𝑜𝑡 𝑔𝑎𝑠
𝑥
12 𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑡ℎ𝑠
= Heat BTU / Year
1 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟
4.
Add the number of BTUs from step #1, #2 and #3 to find your total energy consumption for the year.
5.
Keep track of the purpose and lengths of your car trips for one week. Use the following table below.
Trip # Home to work
Work
Related
Family
Business
Visiting
Friends
Shopping Civic/Religious Vacation Doctor
Analysis and Conclusions: Turn in calculations, analysis and conclusion questions , and graph.
1.
The figure you calculated is the energy you use directly. It does not include the energy you use indirectly. Indirect energy use includes energy used in manufacturing products you buy, growing and processing food, and transporting food and products to you. Approximately 75% of the energy we use is used indirectly. Therefore you need to multiply the total number of BTUs you calculated by 4 to obtain your total energy consumption. Compare this to the chart below average total energy consumption of the average American family in 1990. Discuss reasons for differences or similarities.

Energy consumption for an average U.S. family of four in 1990
Gasoline
Space heating (gas)
Water heating (gas)
Central airconditioning
Refrigerator
Freezer
Other appliances
47.4%
26.6%
10.4%
4.6%
3.0%
2.3%
5.7%
125,000,000 BTU/yr
70,000,000 BTU/yr
27,500,000 BTU/yr
12,200,000 BTU/yr
7,700,000 BTU/yr
6,100.000 BTU/yr
15,000,000 BTU/yr
Total 100% 263,500,000 BTU/yr
2.
Construct a bar graph of your car trips to show the percentage of trips in each of the categories in step #5. How could you conserve gasoline?
3.
Each gallon of gasoline burned produces 24 pounds of carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide is a principal contributor of the greenhouse effect. Calculate the number of pounds of carbon dioxide your car produces each year. This is not your total, as all other energy you use (except for solar, winds and nuclear) also produce carbon dioxide. The production of carbon dioxide per person in the US is approximately 5 tons per year. Do you think that you would be responsible for producing more or less than the national average? Why?
4.
Describe 5 strategies that you and your family could implement to reduce the use of fossil fuels in your household. Name 3 other strategies that could be implemented on a community level.
5.
What have you learned about your impact on the consumption of fossil fuels and production of carbon dioxide from this lab?
Toaster
Microwave oven
Electric frying pan
Coffee maker
Range burner (large)
APPLIANCE ENERGY USE CHART
Appliance kWh Usage Operating Cost
(@ 9.5¢ / kWh)
KITCHEN
0.04 kWh / serving less than 1¢ / serving
0.75 kWh / hr 7¢ / hr
1.2 kWh / hr
2.4 kWh / hr
0.2 kWh / pot
11¢ / hr
2¢ / pot
23¢ / hr

Range burner (small
Oven (baking or roasting)
Oven (broiling)
1.2 kWh / hr
3.2 kWh / hr
3.6 kWh / hr
11¢ / hr
30¢ / hr
34¢ / hr
95¢ / clean Oven (self-cleaning cycle)
Refrigerator (pre-2002, manual defrost)
Refrigerator (pre-2002, frost-free)
10 kWh / clean
63 kWh / month $5.99 / month
168 kWh / month $15.96 / month
Refrigerator (2002 or newer) 82 kWh / month $7,79 / month
Deep freezer (frost free)
Dishwasher
Deep freezer (manual defrost)
1835 kWh / month $17.39 / month
135 kWh / month $12.83 / month
1 kWh / load 9.5¢ / load
Television (21-inch color)
Stereo
Computer with monitor (average)
Computer with monitor (sleep mode)
Fan
LIVING ROOM/OFFICE/FAMILY ROOM
Room space heater (1500 watt)
0.3 kWh / hr
0.15 kWh / hr
0.09 kWh / hr
0.02 kWh / hr
0.2 kWh / hr
1.5 kWh / hr
3¢ / hr
1¢ / hr
1¢ / hr less than 1¢ / hr
2¢ / hr
14¢ / hr
BEDROOM
Waterbed heater
Electric blanket
120 kWh / month $11.40 / month
1 kWh / night 9.5¢ / night
BASEMENT/UTILITY ROOM
Washing machine (excluding water)
Clothes dryer (electric)
Water heater (for average family of 4)
Dehumidifier
Air conditioner (central, 10 SEER)
Air conditioner (central, 14 SEER)
0.25 kWh / load
2.7 kWh / load
2¢ / load
35¢ / load
400 kWh / month $38.00 / month
0.76 kWh / hr
7¢ / hr
1.2 kWh / hr / ton 11¢ / hr / ton
0.85 kWh / hr / ton 8¢ / hr / ton
MISCELLANEOUS
Light bulb (100-watt incandescent) 0.1 kWh / hr
Light bulb (25-watt CFL, 100-watt equiv.) 0.025 kWh / hr
Example Calculation to find cost per year for an appliance:
4¢ / 4 hrs
1¢ / 4 hrs
0.3𝑘𝑤ℎ ℎ𝑟
𝑥
$0.095
𝑥 𝑘𝑤ℎ
90 ℎ𝑟
1 𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑡ℎ 𝑥
12 𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑡ℎ𝑠
1 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟
= $30.78/𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟