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Handy Guide to Wood Energy


>> Biomass-to-Energy Calculator [from www.aboutbioenergy.info]
>> Conversion Factors and Energy Equivalents [from www.worldenergy.org]

New - Calculation for wood fuel parameters


Austrian Energy Agency (klima:aktiv)  

Biomass-to-Energy Calculator


Interactive converter of cubic meters of wet wood into tonnes of wood into energy or tonnes of oil equivalent.
  • >> start converter  bioenergy converter

[from IEA Bioenergy: www.aboutbioenergy.info]


 

Conversion Factors and Energy Equivalents


Information from the World Energy homepage [www.worldenergy.org]  
Basic Energy Units
1 joule (J) = 0.2388 cal    
1 calorie (cal) = 4.1868 J    
(1 British thermal unit [Btu] = 1.055 kJ = 0.252 kcal)
 
WEC Standard Energy Units
1 tonne of oil equivalent (toe) = 42 GJ (net calorific value) = 10 034 Mcal
1 tonne of coal equivalent (tce) = 29.3 GJ (net calorific value) = 7 000 Mcal
Note: the tonne of oil equivalent currently employed by the International Energy Agency and the United Nations Statistics Division is defined as 107 kilocalories, net calorific value (equivalent to 41.868 GJ)
 
Volumetric Equivalents
1 barrel = 42 US gallons = approx. 159 litres
1 cubic metre = 35.315 cubic feet = 6.2898 barrels
 
Electricity
1 kWh of electricity output = 3.6 MJ = approx. 860 kcal
 
Representative Average Conversion Factors
1 tonne of crude oil = approx. 7.3 barrels
1 tonne of natural gas liquids = 45 GJ (net calorific value)
1 000 standard cubic metres of natural gas = 36 GJ (net calorific value)
1 tonne of uranium
(light-water reactors, open cycle)
= 10 000 – 16 000 toe
1 tonne of peat = 0.2275 toe
1 tonne of fuelwood = 0.3215 toe
1 kWh (primary energy equivalent) = 9.36 MJ = approx. 2 236 Mcal
Note: actual values vary by country and over time

Because of rounding, some totals may not agree exactly with the sum of their component parts