2009 March 29
Dear Professor Richter,
In Science 2009 March 13 p 1433 you write about Wood Energy in
America and list energy as follows:
"total U.S. energy consumption, currently about 100 quads
[100 x 10^15 British thermal units (BTUs) or
25.2 x 10^15 kcal] per year."
The text goes on to use quads (see "10 quads per year").
I suggest that it is time for Duke University to stop using old
units and use only joule and its multiples.
The article does a good job of making the case for wood.
I hope that on units you can do better from now on.
Robert H. Bushnell. PhD PE
U S Metric Association
