[dcb]

Originally Posted by NachtRitter

...Not sure why it can't be as simple as agreeing on an energy equivalent between electricity and gasoline...

LOL, even that is not simple

From the wiki discussions on gasoline:
BTU per gallon of gasoline

• 1 kilowatt hour = 3,412.14163 BTU

But nobody seems to know how much energy is supposed to be in a gallon of gas.

• 1 Gallon = 124,000 Btu (rounded to nearest 1000)(based on U.S. consumption, 2007)DOE
• 1 Gallon = 115,000 Btu ORNL
• 1 Gallon = 114,100 Btu About.com
• 1 Gallon = 114,063 Btu NAFA.org
• 1 Gallon = 114,000 Btu EPA
• 1 Gallon = 110,400 Btu/gallon in California [www.vta.org/bart/documents/final_eir/vl_1_ch_4_08_energy.pdf VTA]

• 1 Gallon = 114,000 Btu/gallon according to NIST. They came up with the GGE concept in 1994.NIST

I will assume NIST's figure for 114,000 Btu per gallon of base gasoline is their standard, since they are the ones behind the GGE concept. EPA's figure agrees with this in most places. Kgrr (talk) 16:02, 1 January 2009 (UTC)
Even some government institutions cannot be internally consistent:

• 1 Gallon = 115,400 Btu/gallon ORNL

This figure seems to gain a lot of traction:

• 1 Gallon = 114,264 Btu/gallon AFDC
• 1 Gallon = 114,264 Btu/gallon Province of Alberta, Canada
• 1 Gallon = 114,264 Btu/gallon Chemistry course