In many cases, that comparison of average annual power to nameplate power is what needs to be talked about. Alternatively, capacity hours can be talked about, hours at name-plate capacity required to generate the annual energy output.
________________________________ From: James R. Frysinger <[email protected]> To: U.S. Metric Association <[email protected]> Cc: U.S. Metric Association <[email protected]>; gmail aaj <[email protected]> Sent: Mon, June 7, 2010 1:47:50 PM Subject: [USMA:47542] Re: One unit only Dear Pat, Note that Stan wrote: > Notice that I am using the unit watt (W) here and throughout the treatise. > That unit is both familiar and shorter than others that one could select to > express the annual average energy usage. Rather than reporting on the amounts of energy used annually, he reported on the average rate of energy use, that average being taken over a year's span. The wording of that could have been a bit more clear to make that point, I suppose. Stan's approach is laudable. One hears of electrical power plants, various generators (diesel, wind, PV etc.) in terms of their rated power production. This makes it easier to "add up" those numbers for comparison. One never hears of the amount of energy produced each year by the neighboring power plant, just its power rating or average power output over some period. Jim Pat Naughtin wrote: > Dear Stan, > > It seems really odd to me that engineers, who probably know much better, are > using a power unit when they are referring to energy. > > As far as I know power and energy were clearly distinguished as two quite > separate and distinct physical realities late in the 1700s or early in the > 1800s (I would like to have an exact date but this is the best I can do at > present). > > As you know the unit for energy in the International System of Units (SI) is > the joule (symbol J) and the unit for power in SI is the watt (symbol W). It > makes no sense at all to me to pretend you are talking about energy when you > are trying to describe it with the SI unit for power. > > You will recall that I am really concerned about this issue because until > journalists and politicians are able to comprehend the nature of energy and > how to measure it, we have no chance that they might begin to comprehend > issues such as 'global warming', 'climate change', or 'the end of oil' as > these are, in essence energy issues, and not power issues. > > My approach is to use the SI unit, joule, only, and to use it with an > appropriate prefix to give whole number amounts. See the short article at > http://www.metricationmatters.com/docs/AWordAboutGlobalWarming.pdf for an > example of how I use the energy unit, joule. > > Cheers, > Pat Naughtin > > On 2010/06/07, at 10:17 , Stanislav Jakuba wrote: > >> I am attaching an energy article that is distinguished for using only one >> unit, the watt (W), throughout. That units was selected as it is both >> familiar everywhere, incl. in the US, and shorter than others that one could >> select to express the average energy usage. The watt (as GW) is the only >> unit need for these kinds of global statistics, and using it exclusively >> enables immediate comparisons. >> >> >> I do not mean to start a debate about the opinions expressed in the >> treatise, although I will certainly read all. Instead, I do hope to >> "persuade" everybody in the energy business to settle on this unit for any >> kind of energy usage, i.e.power, anywhere in the world instead of the >> plethora of units common in energy related statistics. On the scale of >> countries, only one prefix also, the G, suffices. >> >> >> Stan Jakuba >> >> >> <Pacific Gas & E.3USMA.doc> > Pat Naughtin > Author of the ebook, /Metrication Leaders Guide,/ that you can obtain from > http://metricationmatters.com/MetricationLeadersGuideInfo.html PO Box 305 > Belmont 3216, > Geelong, Australia > Phone: 61 3 5241 2008 > > Metric system consultant, writer, and speaker, Pat Naughtin, has helped > thousands of people and hundreds of companies upgrade to the modern metric > system smoothly, quickly, and so economically that they now save thousands > each year when buying, processing, or selling for their businesses. Pat > provides services and resources for many different trades, crafts, and > professions for commercial, industrial and government metrication leaders in > Asia, Europe, and in the USA. Pat's clients include the Australian > Government, Google, NASA, NIST, and the metric associations of Canada, the > UK, and the USA. See http://www.metricationmatters.com > <http://www.metricationmatters.com/>for more metrication information, contact > Pat at [email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]> or to get the free '/Metrication > matters/' newsletter go to: http://www.metricationmatters.com/newsletter to > subscribe. > -- James R. Frysinger 632 Stony Point Mountain Road Doyle, TN 38559-3030 (C) 931.212.0267 (H) 931.657.3107 (F) 931.657.3108
