Use water in the ocean in replacement of Space Shuttle Whats

(Use water in the ocean in replacement of Space Shuttle) What’s the chemical energy content of the 100,000 kg of liquid hydrogen that was stored in the Space Shuttle’s fuel tank? How long could this energy power human civilization at our consumption rate of 16TW?

Solution

The chemical energy content (calorific value) of hydrogen is 141790 kJ /kg

Hence the total energy stored in 100000 kg of hydrogen be

E = 141790 * 100000 kJ = 14.179 TJ

Time this much energy will last at the rate of 16TW for

T = E/P = 14.179/16 = 0.886 sec