“How can we compare or add up our energy consumption? To compare or aggregate energy consumption across different energy sources like oil, natural gas, and electricity, we must use a common unit of measure. This is similar to calculating your food energy intake by adding up the calories in whatever you eat. In American households we use several kinds of energy. It’s difficult to add up or compare the total energy we use because each energy source is typically measured in a different unit: gasoline is usually measured in gallons, electricity in kilowatthours, and natural gas in cubic feet. One way to add and compare different energy sources is to convert them all to a common unit of measure based on their energy content. The U.S. Energy Information Administration uses the British thermal unit (Btu) as its common energy unit.”
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