Back to the Future's 1.21 gigawatts sounds huge, but is it? We compare different power levels of common objects to see how much energy a gigawatt really is.

Back to the Future’s 1.21 gigawatts sounds huge, but is it? We compare different power levels of common objects to see how much energy a gigawatt really is.

  • absGeekNZ@lemmy.nzEnglish
    1·
    6 months ago

    This article is completely wrong.

    Watts doesn’t have a time factor at all.

    Power is measured in W (Watts).
    Energy is measured in J (Joule’s), or Wh (Watt-hours) where 1 Wh = 3600 J.

    So 1.21GW is enough power to light 12.1 million 100 W bulbs, if you kept them powered for 1s you would use 1.21GJ of energy, which is 3.36MWh.

    I can’t believe how badly the article gets it wrong.

    I’m an engineer, I work with this stuff regularly.