Humans have an intuitive sense for numbers. We know that 100 is smaller than 1000 and that a 4GB memory card stores less data than a 16GB one. Bearing this in mind, it was decided to approach the energy needs of Brazil and the world. Nowadays, it is very common to see a pie chart or a bar graph depicting various forms of energy consumption, in newspapers, televisions and magazines. One often wonders if these numbers makes any sense to a layperson. Is it possible to build on their numeracy skills, to further understand, say, their country’s needs? Continue reading “World energy needs as Itaipu dam equivalents”