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How Many Empire State Buildings Does It Take to

Equal the Global Crude Oil Consumption?http://barryonenergy.wordpress.com/2011/04/22/how-many-

empire-state-buildings-does-it-take-to-equal-the-global-crude-oil-

consumption 

http://tinyurl.com/barry-stevens210 

A day does not go by without hearing about concerns for petroleum

demand, prices and eventual shortages, both domestically and

globally. The same applies with coal and natural gas. Nations have

gathered together to control and reduce consumption of fossil fuels.

The world has struggled to adopt clean and renewable sources of 

energy, such as solar, wind, biomass, and geothermal. Note, conventional hydroelectric (dams) is not

considered a “true” renewable source of energy due to the need to store and release water to generate

electricity.

In the U.S. alone, renewables only accounted for 3.7% of the net electrical generation in the U.S,

(http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/epm/table1_1.html).

Demand by the transportation industry was primarily supplied by petroleum (94%) and to a much lesser

extent by renewables (3%) (http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/aer/pecss_diagram.html).

Globally the situation is not much different. While energy demand is projected to show a sharp increase

by 2035, “f ossil fuels are still set to meet more than three-fourths of total energy needs in 2035,

assuming current policies are unchanged” Richard Newell, EIA administrator said.

(http://peakoil.com/consumption/eia-world-energy-use-up-49-by-2035 and

http://eia.doe.gov/iea/wec.html) 

Not without standing major concerns for fossil fuel’s effect on the environment, climate change and

erratic pricing behavior, a rather sophomoric but practical question is “how long before fossil fuelsreserves run out.” Nothing new about this question! It’s been discussed ad nauseum for at least the last

50 years. Reports generated during the oil crisis of 1973 projected petroleum would be depleted by the

1990’s. This became one of the key drivers by almost every nation to find the magic renewable energy

source(s).

Determining an exact answer to this question is well beyond the reach of the scientific community. New

technologies keep finding ways to pinpoint reserves, drill deeper, extract horizontally, liquefy coal,

excavate tar sand, and clean up environmental unfriendly deposits. Estimates of depleting reserves

seem as erratic as the crude futures market.

Using crude oil as an example, a superficially unscientific analysis may be helpful to envision the life of 

liquid fuels. As a point of reference, refining of crude oil yields several common fuels and other carbon

based products (see chart below). About 65% of which is petroleum and distillate fuel oil (home heating

oil and diesel fuel) at 44% and 21%, respectfully. Thus, the inextricable relationship between at-the-

pump petroleum and crude oil prices.

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Now for the fun part! According to the EIA the world oil consumption in 2010 was about 86.7 million

barrels per day (“bpd”), (http://www.eia.doe.gov/steo/contents.html#Global_Crude_Oil_And_Liquid_Fuels ). Needless

to say this is a relatively large quantity of oil converted into work, heat, slag and emissions each day. Add

to this, the coal deposits and natural gas reserves and one can soon see the mass quantities of raw

materials needed to support an ever growing population. Furthermore, multiple these values by 365

days per year, 10 years per decade, 10 decades per 100 years and so on and the number soon gets out

of hand.

At least for crude oil, it is possible to conceptualize the amount used rather easily. Using conventional

math and conversion factors:

 multiplying

86.7 million bpd of crude oil a day, by

42 gallons per barrel of crude oil, gives

  3,641 million gallons of crude oil a day.

 multiplying

3,641 million gallons of crude oil a day, by

1 barrel of crude = 5.61458 cubic feet (cu.ft.), gives

  487 million cu ft. of crude oil per day.

 dividing

487 million cu ft. of crude oil per day, by

the volume of Empire State Building = 37 million cu.ft., gives

  13.2 equivalent Empire State Buildings per day.

• multiplying

13.2  equivalent Empire State Buildings per day, by

365 days per year, gives

  4,802 equivalent Empire State Buildings per year.

 multiplying

4,802 equivalent Empire State Buildings per year, by

the area of Empire State Building’s site = 83,860 square feet (sq.ft.), gives

  402.7 million sq.ft. of land per year.

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 dividing

402.7 million sq.ft. of land per year, by

27,878,400 sq.ft. = 1 sq. mile, gives

  14,445 sq. miles per year.

 dividing

14,445 sq. miles per year, by

268,580 sq. miles = State of Texas, gives  18,593 years to cover the State of Texas.

• given

the height of Empire State Building = 1,250 feet to 102nd floor observatory (less antennae), then

18,593 years of oil consumption would fill the State of Texas to a height of 1,250 feet.

Well there you have, mitigating any changes in the global consumption of oil, usage is equivalent to:

 13 Empire State Buildings per day.

 4,802 Empire State Buildings per year.

 a volume 14,445 sq. miles by 1,250 feet high per year.

 After 18,000 years, a volume the size of the State of Texas to a height of 1,250

In closing and jokingly stated, there is nothing to worry about except carbon and other harmful

emissions from the continued use of fossil fuels. For the surface area of the earth is about 197 million

square miles, and making a wild guess that oil, coal and natural gas can be found on 10% of the world’s

surface, it will take about 1.4 million years for all fossil fuel sources to go bye bye.

Hey by that time, either man will no longer roam the earth or be so technologically advanced that

making carbon atoms from hydrogen will be a snap. Wall Street needs to take stock of this opportunity

by selling mining on the surface of the sun; one could get wealthy in a million or so years.

To read my other discussions, please visit http://tinyurl.com/barry-stevens210 

by

Barry Stevens, PhD

President

TBD America, Inc.

Arlington, TX

April 22, 2011