It’s true. According to Bill Colton, a VP at ExxonMobil, a single gallon of petrol (3.8L) has enough energy to charge an iPhone once a day for 20 years. Of course, that’s never going to happen but it’s a point ExxonMobil uses to stress the fact that there is a lot of energy in gasoline.
That number is striking though. 20 years? And then you think about what petrol is used for, fuel for our cars, and it all makes sense (kind of). Our cars, which are 1,500 odd kilos and can hit upwards of 150kph for miles upon miles, rely on petrol to work. If petrol has enough energy to power that, it definitely has leftover resources to pump up our phones.
ExxonMobil goes on to say that gas is one of the lightest and most energy dense fuels there is, which I could care less about because all I want now is somebody to figure out how to transform a gallon of petrol into a chargeable resource for my iPhone. [ExxonMobil via @wirecutter, Image Credit: alexmillos/Shutterstock]
Penmonicus
Friday, December 23, 2011 at 10:51 AMWhat a ridiculously stupid statement. All this says to me is that cars need a ludicrous amount of energy to move.
Timmahh
Friday, December 23, 2011 at 11:11 AMHow many cylinders is there in an iPad anyway?
My transformer only has two, using two stroke, which explains the smoke! :)
TSH
Friday, December 23, 2011 at 11:34 AM“which I could care less about”
so, you care greatly about this fact? After all, if you could care less about it, you must care about it a certain amount already.
That turn of phrase really, really gets my goat.
Also, the statement strikes me as somewhat ridiculous. Total energy in petrol is great, that’s true. Take into account the energy it takes to find, mine and refine; plus the energy losses involved in electricity generation and transmission; plus the fact that an iDevice battery is good for maybe 5 years (after which you’ll need a new battery, with all the associated energy and material costs) and suddenly it’s apparent that Mr Colton is not talking about the real world.
Puddiepants
Friday, December 23, 2011 at 12:02 PMIs that just talking about the amount of energy in the petrol? If it is, unless they manage to make a 100% efficient method of transferring that energy into the iPhone, that’s a blatant lie… Given the current efficiency of internal combustion engines (around the 25% mark) that gallon of petrol will only get you 5 years of recharges…
G
Friday, December 23, 2011 at 12:50 PM>which I could care less about
You write for money, right?
Bruce
Friday, December 23, 2011 at 6:33 PMI think this is a good point, with our energy crisis looming it shows JUST HOW efficient petrol/gas is in the energy table. NOTHING and i mean NOTHING is gonna replace it, in short, we’re all doomed.
Bah Humbug,
Merry Crimbo xD
Mmmmm
Friday, December 23, 2011 at 10:55 PMAbout 75% of the petrol you burn is waste out the exhaust.
ZS
Wednesday, January 4, 2012 at 2:39 PM“…all I want now is somebody to figure out how to transform a gallon of petrol into a chargeable resource for my iPhone…”
ROFLMAO. Seriously? We already have all of these.
Haven’t you heard of a car charger? Or you could simply use a home generator, couldn’t you? Or…wait a minute, what about the gas power plant in your city – that gas is collected as a by-product in refining crude oil – a.k.a another form of petrol (similar to LPG and CNG powered cars)….your iPhone charger at home runs off electricity that is generated by this?