Can Humans Generate Enough Heat to Power the World?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the concept of whether the heat generated by humans could be harnessed as a viable energy source. Participants explore the implications of human-generated heat in comparison to energy consumption and production, touching on theoretical and practical aspects of energy conversion.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Technical explanation

Main Points Raised

  • One participant states that the average heat produced by a human is 116 watts, leading to a total of 812 billion watts from the global population of 7 billion.
  • Another participant points out that a watt is a unit of power, not energy, questioning the relevance of the calculations presented.
  • A different viewpoint suggests that the collective human heat output could theoretically exceed France's daily energy consumption, proposing a hypothetical scenario of energy pooling.
  • One participant argues that even if human thermal energy could be pooled and converted to electricity, it would still fall short of the output of a nuclear power plant in California.
  • Another participant humorously suggests an extreme method of energy harvesting, dismissing the practicality of capturing human radiated energy.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on the feasibility and implications of harnessing human-generated heat. There is no consensus on the practicality of the idea, and several points remain contested.

Contextual Notes

Some participants highlight potential mathematical inaccuracies in the initial claims, while others emphasize the limitations of converting thermal energy to usable power. The discussion does not resolve these mathematical or practical concerns.

Who May Find This Useful

Individuals interested in energy production, sustainability, and the theoretical implications of human-generated heat may find this discussion relevant.

Don East
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The average heat produced by one human is 116 watts. There 7 billion people in the world today. That equals 812 billion watts of energy. How do I explain this to the average person.
Thanks Don East
 
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Don East said:
The average heat produced by one human is 116 watts. There 7 billion people in the world today. That equals 812 billion watts of energy. How do I explain this to the average person.
Thanks Don East

What's the point? And a Watt is a unit of power, not of energy...
 
What's there to explain?
 
Don East said:
The average heat produced by one human is 116 watts. There 7 billion people in the world today. That equals 812 billion watts of energy. How do I explain this to the average person.
Thanks Don East


It means we are generating 800% as much energy as the whole of France consumes in a day. Tap our enegies for only a day and France will be sorted for the next eight days. :)
 
Last edited:
boit said:
It means that were we to somehow pool our thermal energies and convert same to electricy, we wouldn't match the nuclear power plant in Califonia which delivers almost thre times that much (some 2.1 thousand Mega Watts of power).

Check your math.
 
Nugatory said:
Check your math.


Checked and edited accordingly. My bad.
 
yea so let's get all the humans in the world and set them on fire and let the aliens enjoy the energy :P
there is no possible way to harvest radiated human energy i believe , and it would be useless nonetheless
 

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