Facts and Trivia

The Good, the Weird, and the Trivial

• Every hour, the energy in the sunlight that hits the surface of the Earth is enough to fulfill all of the world’s annual energy needs.
• Water power has been used for grinding grain for 2000 years.
• The largest wind turbine in the world is found in Hawaii. It is 20-storeys tall nad has a wingspan the length of a football field (90 meters).
• A wind turbine can provide electricity for about 300 homes.
• The first wind farm in Southeast Asia was built in Bangui, Ilocos Norte.
• Silicon from a ton of sand, used in photovoltaic cells (solar panels), provides the same energy with 500000 tons of coal.
• The country with the highest solar ownership rate is not in Europe, Americas, or Asia. It’s not even Australia. The answer? Kenya.
• If RE usage increases, the International Energy Agency expects the CO2 level to reduce by 50% by 2050.
• The residue of sugar cane can be used as biofuel.
• The US is the highest consumer of geothermal energy, followed by the Philippines then Iceland.
• 18% of automotives in Brazil use biofuels.
• The Earth has deep internal hot layers. The sun shines energy on Earth. Wind blows on different parts of the Earth at different times. The Earth is around 75% water. Yet only 0.8% of the world’s energy comes from these (geothermal, wind, ocean, solar).

The Real, the Factual, and the Painful

• Estimates by the International Energy Agency (IEA) show that as the global economy expands, the energy needs will grow by 55% from 2005-2030, or about 17.7 billion tons of oil equivalent (toe) from 11.4 billion toe.
• Carbon dioxide emissions are expected to go up to 42 gigatons (GT) in 2030 from only 27 GT in 2005, or up by 57%.
• A lot of land is needed for the constructions of wind farms. And to maximize the wind, wind farms are often built offshore. Global warming will one day raise water level and sink these offshore lands.
• Hydroelectric dams are one of the best alternatives to fuel, but it will affect the aquatic ecosystems and birdlife, have impacts on the river environment, and emit high amounts of carbon dioxide at construction.