# TeraWatts of Energy?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terawatts-of-energy/744442>\
**Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\
**Created:** [January 28, 2016, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terawatts-of-energy/744442 "2016-01-28T01:35:58Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\
**Post date:** [January 28, 2016, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terawatts-of-energy/744442/1 "2016-01-28T01:35:58Z")

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From the sparkling column [Should we give up toilet paper?](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/3272/should-we-give-up-toilet-paper), Little Ed has edited Cecil into an error:

> [@](#):
>
> This isn’t the only way that TP is problematic, environmentally speaking. Scientific American reported that, trees aside, U.S. TP consumption requires, per annum, 473 billion gallons of water, 253,000 tons of chlorine (for bleaching; this can have harmful downstream effects on the immune and reproductive systems of wildlife), and 17.3 terawatts of energy. That’s some footprint.

Watts are power; Watt-hours are energy. The column’s usage is not consistent.

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**Author:** ![Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/do_not_taunt/32/2968_2.png) [@Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Do_Not_Taunt)\
**Post date:** [January 28, 2016, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terawatts-of-energy/744442/2 "2016-01-28T17:28:23Z")

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[Why has no one brought this up before?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=19050580&postcount=20)

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**Author:** ![Peace\_on\_you](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ac8455/32.png) [@Peace\_on\_you](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peace_on_you)\
**Post date:** [January 31, 2016, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terawatts-of-energy/744442/3 "2016-01-31T15:00:07Z")

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Hey Chester and fans/crew

Just found your site today - great find.

Been trawling around the net for a few hours reviving past kitchen table activism - about to share recipes with new flatmates and make up diy cleaning products here to keep Blue Mountains in Australia water a bit cleaner, Sydney’s downstream drinking water a little less tainted, and less plastic bottles in the rubbish bin.  
Came to you somehow via Dr Bronner’s . . . searches for castille soap.  
Ok so got that out of the way . . .

As I have been reading your columns - energy, petrodollars, oil, coal, solar, wind, etc and the issue of toliet paper - also an issue in a new share house - who takes care of that? . . . it occurred to me slowly, re projections of population vs available resources to generate enough energy to service that population . . .  
What about harnessing resources created by that very population vis a vis poop, domestic food waste, agricultural waste, movement etc.  
That is not being mentioned anywhere yet in this line of discussion unless I’ve missed it in my readings of your columns from 2006 till now on this issue.

Bio-fuels. Other newer ideas.  
Harnessing energy at every step - generating it by the very existence of that larger population.

Moving, eating, toilet, cycling, driving, other . . . This would then be scalable to the populations being discussed. And would be localised to the places where it is generated also.  
Requiring less infrastructure and energy for transportation etc.

Energy generated by the activities of those people eg talk of cars creating energy by driving along the road, using the same energy to keep driving.  
Other enclosed-loop developments along those lines maybe?  
Another stab a perpetual motion generated electricity?  
Or has that been lain to rest for good?

Hmmm?

Jugular waiting in trepidation . . . .