The amount of heat generated per unit of animal biomass per day.
Used to calculate:fossil fuels consumed and biomass fuels consumed
Varies by: global
| Used | global | Reference | Location: Ecosystem (study period) |
Value | Units | Notes |
|---|
| * | Global entity | McNab 2002 Physiological Ecology of Vertebrates | Global: All mammals () | 0.016 | W / kg | McNab (2002) (p. 102) writes that thermal conductance (C, measured in J/h deg C) in mammals is generally described as C = 1.00 sqrt (m), where m is the mass measured in grams. The average human biomass according Walpole (2012) is 62 kg. So for the average human, thermal conductance is 249 J/h deg C. If we further assume that the normal room temperature is 22.5 deg C and that the normal human temperature is 37 deg C, then at room temperature, heat loss is 3610.5 J/h or approximately 1 W. (Recall 1 W = 1 J/s). Finally on per weight basis, heat loss (or generation rate, from the perspective of the environment receiving the heat energy) is 1 W / 62 kg = 0.016 W/kg. |