Hi everybody.

I'm looking for information on the energy value of "generic WVO". When I say energy, I mean heat value, specifically.

I saw in my local newspaper (The Province) that my local natural gas company (Terasen) will be increasing the cost of gas by 11%. This means that the new price for gas will be $8.29 per gigajoule.

This news bit got me wondering approximately how much heat energy is stored up in the "average" litre (or gallon) of WVO?

Does anyone here have any reasonably accurate numbers illustrating the stored heat energy in WVO? I know that WVO varies widely, so I don't expect dead accurate numbers, but if anyone had even approximate data, it would be useful in comparing WVO with natural gas.

Thanks in advance.

P.S.: I did a search on our archives on BTUs, Joules and WVO burners, but couldn't seem to find anything specific noting stored energy in WVO.

Energy values of diesel fuel oils

megaJoules per kilogram

#2 diesel 40.
canola 39.7
peanut 39.8
corn 39.5

megaJoules per litre

diesel 38.3
canola 36.9

One gigajoule≈

diesel 26 litres ≈ $33.50
canola 27 litres ≈ $45.50

data from
http://journeytoforever.org/biodiesel_yield2.html