Global Warming - basic calculations?

Question

I'm looking for simple information such as:

How much chemical energy is in a barrel of petroleum?

How much solar energy can be captured by any means per square mile? If you can compare photo-voltaic vs. ethanol vs. bio-diesel vs. heating water to power a dynamo, that would be EXCELLENT.

When solar energy is converted what portion comes from visible light, what portion from infrared and what portion from ultraviolet?

I'm asking a lot. If you don't have the answer, possibly you can suggest a forum or organization which has this info.

Thanks.

Answer 1

There isn't any calculations like this.  If there were, then we would be able to determine what temperature the climate would be at any given time.

"Global warming" requires people reading the "tea leaves" and coming up with a scientific guess to tell others what's happening.  No two people will ever be able to come to the same conclusion on their own.  Global warming is a subjective science.

Answer 2

It took me two years of an M.Sc. with a lot of calculations and readings on my own to know all of it.

I also do the calculations but like everybody I need to feed a family and I charge money for my brainwork.

I can only advise you to start reading books which might be a lot of headaches to start with.

I hope that you have a basis of physics and that you are able to make basic calculations (forces, power, energy, conversion, etc...), preferrably in SI units.

Answer 3

Crude oil contains about 6119 megajoules (MJ) per 42-gallon barrel.

Pure unblended gasoline contains about 130 MJ per gallon, less if its an ethanol blend.

One metric tonne of coal contains 24,137 MJ.

http://www.eia.doe.gov/kids/energyfacts/...

Above the atmosphere, the Sun's energy contains about 1365 Watts per square meter, when that square meter is at right angles to the Sun's rays. (One watt is one joule per second.) Down here on the ground, you have to contend with clouds and dust, and atmospheric scattering, so you're lucky to get 1000 watts per square meter. So theoretically, a one-square-meter area that is at right angles to the Sun at all times might receive about 43 MJ on a clear day. But a photovoltaic panel is generally only 15% to 20% efficient, so you'd get much less than that: maybe 8 MJ per day. And most solar panels are "passive" meaning that they don't follow the Sun during the day, and therefore don't usually get the Sun's rays at right angles, so you have to allow for that too.

Solar-to-heat conversion systems are generally about the same level of efficiency as photovoltaics (15-20%), although some recent installations of solar-heated Stirling engines have demonstrated direct efficiencies as high as 30%.

http://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy04osti/33875....

Nearly all the Sun's energy is in the visible range of the spectrum.

Answer 4

You will need to investigate a lot of sources for your answers.  Try the link below as a start.

Answer 5

There is a lot of questions in there

for the stuff about solar panels I sugegst you try

http://science.howstuffworks.com/solar-c...

www.howstuffworks.com  will probably be able to help you with your other questions too, its a really good source of information , and more reliable tat wikipedia

hope that helps.