Gigajoules to Gigawatt-hours conversion

How to convert gigajoules to gigawatt-hours?

Sure! To convert gigajoules (GJ) to gigawatt-hours (GWh), you need to know the relationship between joules (J) and watt-hours (Wh).

1 joule (J) is equivalent to 2.77778 x 10^-7 watt-hours (Wh).

Since there are 1,000,000,000 (10^9) joules in 1 gigajoule (GJ), you can use the following conversion factor:

$1 \text{ GJ} = 10^9 \text{ J} \times 2.77778 \times 10^{-7} \text{ Wh/J}$

$1 \text{ GJ} = 277.78 \text{ kWh}$

$1 \text{ GJ} = 0.27778 \text{ MWh}$

$1 \text{ GJ} = 0.00027778 \text{ GWh}$

So, 1 gigajoule is equal to 0.00027778 gigawatt-hours.

Real-world Examples of Gigajoules

1. Household Electricity Consumption:

   • An average American household consumes about 30 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per day.
   • In terms of gigajoules: $30 \text{ kWh/day} \times 365 \text{ days/year} = 10,950 \text{ kWh/year}$.
   • Converting to gigajoules: $10,950 \text{ kWh/year} \times 0.0036 \text{ GJ/kWh} = 39.42 \text{ GJ/year}$.

2. Natural Gas:

   • 1 therm is approximately equal to 0.1055 gigajoules.
   • For heating purposes, an average US household consumes around 50–70 therms/month in the colder months.
   • This corresponds to about 5.275–7.385 GJ/month during the heating season.

3. Automotive Fuel Consumption:

   • Gasoline has an energy density of about 34.2 megajoules per liter.
   • A car with a 50-liter fuel tank has an energy content of approximately 1.71 gigajoules (50 liters × 34.2 MJ/liter / 1000).

4. Solar Power Generation:

   • A large solar power plant might generate 10 gigajoules of energy per hour under optimal conditions.
   • This would be equivalent to 2.78 MWh or 0.00278 GWh of electricity per hour.

5. Food Energy:

   • An adult human consumes roughly 8,400 kilojoules per day through food.
   • Converting this to gigajoules per year: $8,400 \text{ kJ/day} \times 365 \text{ days/year} / 10^6 = 3.066 \text{ GJ/year}$.

These examples provide a range of contexts from household energy use to large-scale energy production, demonstrating the versatility of gigajoules as a unit of measure for energy.