Everyone likes fun facts! See our list below for some interesting facts relating to the energy we depend on every day!

Electricity

• Electricity travels at the speed of light - more than 186,000 miles per second!
•  A spark of static electricity can measure up to three thousand (3,000) volts.
• A bolt of lightning can measure up to three million (3,000,000) volts – and it lasts less than one second!
• Electricity always tries to find the easiest path to the ground.
• Electricity can be made from wind, water, the sun and even animal manure.
• Burning coal is the most common way electricity is made in the United States.
• One power plant can produce enough electricity for 180,000 homes.
• The first power plant – owned by Thomas Edison – opened in New York City in 1882.
• Thomas Edison invented more than 2,000 new products, including almost everything needed for us to use electricity in our homes: switches, fuses, sockets and meters.
• Benjamin Franklin didn’t discover electricity – but he did prove that lightning is a form of electrical energy.
• In 1978, only eight percent of U.S. households had microwave ovens. Today, 83 percent have them.
• The size of a typical American home has increased from 1100 to 1800 square feet over the past ten years.
• As late as 1993, high-tech paraphernalia like computers, printers and video games had a negligible effect on power usage. Today, it's estimated to account for more than 13 percent of a typical household energy budget. By 2020, it could be as much as 25 percent.
• According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, electricity consumption will increase by 51 percent from 2002 to 2025.
• The first central power plant – Pearl Street Station in lower Manhattan, built by Thomas Edison – began generating electricity on September 4, 1882. Pearl Street had one generator and it produced power for 800 electric light bulbs. Within 14 months, Pearl Street Station had 508 subscribers and 12,732 bulbs.
• Since the first power plant lit up 800 light bulbs in 1882, the electric utility industry has grown to generate over 2.5 million Gigawatt-hours annually, the equivalent of lighting 4.8 billion 60-watt light bulbs for a year.
   

Water

• A hot water faucet that leaks one drop per second can add up to 165 gallons a month. That's more than one person uses in two weeks.
• An energy-smart clothes washer can save more water in one year than one person drinks in an entire lifetime!
• An automatic dishwasher uses less hot water than doing dishes by hand - an average of six gallons less, or more than 2,000 gallons per year.
• Your brain is made up of 95% water.
• 75% of the earth is covered with water.
• If you leave the water running when you brush your teeth, you will use an average of two gallons of water.
• It takes an average of seven gallons of water to take a shower.
• Humans take in over 16,000 gallons of water during their lifetime, an average of 2.5 quarts per day.
• Only three percent of the water on the earth is fresh water and 75% of that is frozen in the polar ice caps.
• Each day, the United States uses 100 billion gallons of water for crop irrigation.
• One inch of rainfall drops 7,000 gallons, or nearly 30 tons of water, on a 60' x 180' piece of land.

Natural Gas

• Ninety-nine percent of the natural gas used in the United States comes from North America.
• The U.S. gas distribution network is comprised of more than 1.2 miles of pipeline, supplying 175 million consumers.
• Natural gas provides 24 percent of all the energy used in the United States.
• About 55 percent of American homes use natural gas for heating.
• The first use of gas energy in the United States occurred in 1816, when gaslights illuminated the streets of Baltimore, Maryland.
• Currently, oil provides the largest share of U.S. energy consumption -- about 41 percent of the entire market. Natural gas provides about 24 percent, coal 23 percent, hydropower 4 percent and nuclear power 8 percent.
    

Steam

• Steam can be used to provide heat and hot water to buildings.
• Steam can be used to power mechanical devices such as engines, which can then produce electricity.
• Dry steam is a type of steam that is found naturally under the earth’s surface.
• Steam occupies about 1,600 times the volume of liquid water.
• In the U.S., more than 90% of electric power is produced using steam as the working fluid, mainly by steam turbines.
• Superheated steam is steam that is heated above its boiling point of 212 degrees Fahrenheit or 100 degrees Celsius.
    

Cistern

• The first cisterns were dug in the Middle East around 1700 B.C. The rainwater that collected in them during the short rainy season would be enough for at least one dry season.

Transportation

• One person using mass transit for an entire year, instead of driving to work, can keep an average of 9.1 pounds of hydrocarbons, 62.5 pounds of carbon monoxide, and 4.9 pounds of nitrogen oxides from being discharged into the air.
• One full, 40-foot bus also takes 58 cars off the road. A 10 percent nationwide increase in transit ridership would save 135 million gallons of gasoline a year.
• The Federal Highway Administration estimates that it costs people between 22 and 29 cents per mile to operate a car, depending on the size.
• By ridesharing every day, commuters can save up to $3,000 a year on gas, insurance, parking, and wear and tear on their car.
• By designating an automobile for pleasure use only, the insurance premiums on that car can go down as much as 20 percent.
• It is also estimated that idling and stop-and-go traffic costs motorists 753 million gallons of gasoline a year, or $1,194 per driver in wasted fuel and time.
• People commuting by computer from home two or three days a week, or working an alternative work week, could save up to three weeks' worth of driving a year.
• A transit bus with as few as seven passengers uses less fuel per passenger mile than a typical car with only a driver in it.
• A transit bus with full rush hour load of 44 passengers uses much less fuel than 11 cars with 4 passengers each.