We're super powerful! Together, we can provide all the energy that Canadians need. Just how much is that?

• In 2009, 1,427,947 barrels of petroleum products consumed each day, or 227,025,486 litres. Since an Olympic-sized swimming pool holds 2,500,000 litres, that's enough fuel to fill about 91 Olympic-sized swimming pools every day
• In 2009, 576,180 gigawatt-hours of electricity generated each year. That's enough to electricity to power a 60-watt bulb... for 1.1 billion years
• In 2009, 2,263.9 billion cubic feet of natural gas a year. The volume of the largest Goodyear Blimp is 202,700 cubic feet. That means Canadians consume almost 11.2 million Goodyear Blimps worth of natural gas each year

Hard to wrap your head around? Then let's just review what they're all doing.

Heating

GasBOT is the best at keeping Canadians warm — natural gas is the largest source of heating in Canada, followed by electricity and heating oil (that's OilBOT's department). And more than a quarter of Canadians still use wood on occasion to heat their homes, which is just fine if you ask BiofuelBOT.

Transportation

OilBOT is still definitely the country's best bet for keeping its wheels moving, with gasoline and diesel fuels being guzzled by cars and trucks across the country, but GasBOT, FuelcellBOT and every BOT that produces electricity are starting to get a taste for the road too. It's a race that never ends.

Electricity

In 2009, Canada produced 576.2 terrawatt-hours of electricity. Most of that electricity (over 60 per cent) came from HydroBOT, with the non-renewable BOTs (OilBOT, GasBOT, CoalBOT and NuclearBOT bringing up the rear. And they all got a real charge out of it.

How much?

How much energy are we producing? A lot. The Energy BOT Squad produced 19.4 quadrillion British thermal units (BTU) of energy in 2008 — that's the fifth most in the entire world! In the end it's a team effort.

Where?

As you've seen, the Energy BOT Squad can be found across the country, from OilBOT's stomping grounds in the Athabasca oil sands to HydroBOT's free dives in Quebec, from NuclearBOT's power plants in Ontario to GasBOT's offshore sites in Nova Scotia. Wherever you look, the squad will be there!

How does it work?

We work together. With new BOTs like WindBOT and SolarBOT starting to take their place in Canada's energy system, BOTs like GasBOT are helping them keep a consistent supply of energy (because the wind doesn't always blow and the sun doesn't always shine). And while some of us produce heat and electricity, others like OilBOT are keeping the country's wheels turning. We work together, and it's working well.

Special powers

We're not used to bragging, but the BOT Squad does have a special power that's unique in the world: the oil sands. Sitting quietly under the northeastern corner of Alberta are the third-largest oil reserves in the world after Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. Way to go OilBOT!

Global intelligence

The Energy BOT Squad isn't just ready to power Canada — we are ready and able to help out the entire world! Canada exports a lot of its energy, which means that in addition to being powerful we also bring in money for the whole country ($126 billion in 2008!). Now that's a green that even BiofuelBOT can appreciate.

Become a fan be completing our Energy BOT Squad activity sheets.

Super Power Sources (627 KB PDF) - match the Energy BOT to its energy source
Put the Energy BOT Squad to Work (602 KB PDF)- every Energy BOT has special powers - do you know them?
Super Powerful Energy Pie (193 KB PDF) - every Energy BOT gets a piece!
Activity Sheets Answer Keys (1.8 MB PDF) - for teachers and parents