EIA Kids Page - Energy Fun Facts

DID YOU KNOW?

Did you know that Energy Ant was "born" in May of 1975?He was created by the Federal Energy Administration, the Department of Energy's predecessor, to tell kids about energy and how to use it wisely (ants are very energy-efficient creatures), and he is a registered trademark of the Department of Energy. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) thought it would be fun to bring him back as a guide to its Energy Kid's Page and as an ambassador for energy information. In addition, a human-sized Energy Ant (really an EIA employee in costume) makes guest appearances at school events in the Washington, DC area to talk to students about energy and science.

Did you know that there is a unit of measure that can be used to compare different forms of energy? It is called a Btu (British thermal unit). One Btu is approximately equal to the energy released in the burning of a wood match.

What do these things have in common: ink

, crayons

, bubble gum

, dishwashing liquid

, deodorant, eyeglasses

, tires

and heart valves

? They’re all among the 3,000 synthetic products made from fossil fuels.

All crude oil is not the same. Crude oil is called “sweet” when it contains only a small amount of sulfur and “sour” if it contains a lot of sulfur. Crude oil is also classified by the weight of its molecules. “Light” crude oil flows freely like water while “heavy” crude oil is thick like tar.

When natural gas is burned, it produces mostly carbon dioxide and water vapor. These are the same substances emitted when people breathe.

image of a nose Natural gas is odorless but has an organic compound called mercaptan added to give it an odor. That way, you can detect possible leaks.

If all the passenger vehicles in the United States were lined up bumper to bumper, they would reach from the earth to the moon and back! The amount of fuel consumed in these vehicles each year is enough to fill a swimming pool as big as a football field that is 40 miles deep!

image of coal Nine of every ten tons of coal used in the United States are used for electricity generation. Here’s how it works: coal is burned to heat water into steam in an electric power plant, then the steam turns a turbine that drives a generator that produces electricity. During this process, about 2/3 of the energy in the coal is used up to make electricity, or becomes waste heat, and only 1/3 winds up being delivered to users as electricity.

Did you know that the gasoline in your car's tank is made from petroleum formed from plants and tiny animals that lived 100's of millions of years ago, way BEFORE dinosaurs.