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Assumptions, Units and Statistics
Future Demand For Electricity - By and large demand estimates have been conservative and in particular do not take account of, in particular, the transport industry. It is becoming more evident that the motor industry is heading towards either hybrids or wholly electric vehicles. Estimates vary as to the additional load a wholly electric future might impose however a figure of perhaps 30% over and above the expected usage based on fossil fuels is perhaps not unreasonable.
Current EU demands for Electricity are in the region of 4,000 Terawatt hours. With transport and the increased emphasis on replacing fossil fuels creating an electricity based economy it is not inconceivable that this may double or even treble. Of course accompanying this would be a huge decrease in non renewable use (and import costs for those fuels).
It would be wise to assume a double or even treble factor in the use of electricity in individual countries needs for say 2050.
Costs of subterranean cabling
Recent assumption of cost of Euros 2million per Km of subterranean 400 KV bipole line (ESTELA doc june 8th 2009 page 10)
Link to wikipedia Conversion of Units
(distinguish from energy with is power multiplied by the time for which that power is used)
The kilowatt (kW) = 1,000watts = approx 1.34 horsepower.
The megawatt (MW) is equal to one million (106) watts
The gigawatt (GW) is equal to one billion (109) watts.
The terawatt (TW) is equal to one trillion (1012) watts.
The petawatt (symbol: PW) is equal to one quadrillion (1015) watts
Mass
1 tonne - 1,000 kilogrammes(kg)
Solar Power (is a unit of power so can also be expressed in watts)
1 Sol
Area
100 hectares to one square Km
Equivalents (used to compare dissimilar materials or energies which have similar effect)
1 tonne of CO2 equivalent (tCO2e) - different Greenhouse Gases (GHGs) have different degrees of ability to insulate - see list on wikipedia for detailed equivalents
Link to specific statistics page
The world energy consumption is approximately 15 terawatts