Factor e Farm Energy Cycle

Introduction

We need to start by defining our terms. We use:

• 1 calorie = 4.2 Joules
  • This is the amount of heat energy needed to raise the temperature of one gram of water by 1 degree Celsius
• 1 Calorie = 4200 J
  • calorie with capital C is the heat energy needed to raise the temperature of one kilogram of water by 1 degree Celsius
• calory = 4.2 Joules
  • This is used for food energy values.

Furthermore:

• One kilowatt hour (1 kWhr) is 3,600,000 joules or 3.6 megajoules; look up Joule on wikipedia; this is also equivalent to 1 Whr = 3.6 kilojoules = 15 kilocalories = 15 kcal
• Solar energy coming to the earth is about 1 kW per square meter
• 1 acre is about 4000 square meters
• Thus, 1 acre intercepts a power of 4 megawatts
• Given a single day has 6 hours of direct sunlight on average over the year, we have a total of approximately 24 megawatt hours per day coming to each acre of Factor e Farm, or a total of about 9 GW hours per year
• Multiply 1 Whr = 15 kcal by 9G (billion) to obtain this yearly amount of calories:
  • 15 kcal * 9 billion = 135 Teracalories = 32 TJ
• Compare to 1 gallon of gasoline equivalent
  • Consider that 1 BTU = 1055 joules
  • Gasoline has an energy content of about 114000 BTU per gallon
  • -> gasoline has an energy content of 120 MJ/gallon
  • -> The sun showers us with the equivalent of 270,000 gallons of fuel per acre per year at Factor e Farm, Missouri, central USA!!!