How many calories are in gasoline?

About 30,000 to 31,000 food Calories (kcal) per U.S. gallon of gasoline—roughly 8,000 kcal per liter—when measured as heat of combustion, not nutritional energy. In other words, if you convert gasoline’s chemical energy to heat, it contains far more “calories” per unit than any food, but gasoline is toxic and not metabolizable by the human body.

What “calories” means here

In everyday nutrition, a Calorie (with a capital C) equals a kilocalorie (kcal), the energy your body can metabolize from food. For fuels like gasoline, energy is measured as heat released on combustion (usually in joules, BTU, or kcal). When people ask how many “calories” are in gasoline, they’re referring to this heat of combustion—not dietary energy. Gasoline’s energy is therefore a physics/engineering number, not a meaningful nutritional value.

Typical energy content of gasoline

Real-world gasoline varies by formulation and temperature, but authoritative energy data converge tightly. The U.S. Energy Information Administration reports about 120,000 BTU per U.S. gallon for finished motor gasoline, which converts to roughly 126.9 megajoules (MJ) or about 30,300 kcal per gallon. That scales to around 33.5 MJ per liter—about 8,000 kcal per liter.

Quick reference conversions

The following list gives convenient, commonly used conversions for gasoline’s energy content, framed in “food Calories” (kcal) for comparison.

• Per U.S. gallon (3.785 L): about 30,000–31,000 kcal (typical ≈ 30,300 kcal)
• Per liter: about 7,600–8,300 kcal (typical ≈ 8,000 kcal)
• Per milliliter: about 8 kcal
• Per kilogram of gasoline: roughly 10,500–11,300 kcal (depends on exact composition)

These figures reflect the heat you’d get by burning gasoline; they are not nutritionally usable by humans and should never be interpreted as dietary energy.

How the calculation works

To translate gasoline’s heat content into dietary-style calories, you convert standard fuel units (BTU or joules) into kilocalories using fixed physical constants.

1. Start with a widely used benchmark: finished motor gasoline at about 120,000 BTU per U.S. gallon.
2. Convert BTU to joules: 1 BTU ≈ 1,055.06 joules, so 120,000 BTU ≈ 126.6 MJ per gallon (typical EIA value ≈ 126.9 MJ).
3. Convert joules to kilocalories: 1 kcal = 4,184 joules, or equivalently 1 MJ = 239.006 kcal. Thus 126.9 MJ × 239.006 ≈ 30,300 kcal per gallon.
4. Divide by 3.785 to get per-liter values: ≈ 8,000 kcal per liter.

Using slightly different published BTU-per-gallon figures or gasoline blends shifts the result by only a few percent, which is why many credible sources cite a similar range.

Important safety and context

Gasoline is poisonous, carcinogenic, and not metabolizable; even small ingestion or prolonged inhalation can be dangerous. The “calories in gasoline” comparison is purely a thermodynamic illustration of energy density, often used to contrast fuels and batteries, not a statement about suitability for consumption.

Why the exact number can vary

Several technical factors nudge the calculated “calories” up or down within a narrow band.

• Blending: Ethanol-containing gasoline (e.g., E10) has slightly lower energy per gallon than pure hydrocarbons.
• Temperature and density: Warmer fuel is less dense, slightly lowering the energy per gallon; energy per kilogram is more stable.
• Measurement basis: Engineers distinguish lower vs. higher heating value (LHV vs. HHV). Automotive comparisons usually use LHV, which is a bit lower than HHV.

In practice, these influences typically change the per-gallon figure by only a few percent, keeping estimates clustered around the 30,000 kcal mark.

Summary

Gasoline contains on the order of 30,000–31,000 food Calories per U.S. gallon—about 8,000 kcal per liter—when measured as heat of combustion. That immense energy density explains gasoline’s utility as a transportation fuel but has no nutritional relevance and comes with significant toxicity and safety risks.

Are there calories in gasoline?

Typical molecules found in gasoline
If it were possible for human beings to digest gasoline, a gallon would contain about 31,000 food calories — the energy in a gallon of gasoline is equivalent to the energy in about 110 McDonalds hamburgers!

How many calories are in 1 cup of gasoline?

A gallon of gasoline contains 31,000 calories, so since there are 16 cups in a gallon, a cup of gasoline contains a bit less than 2,000 calories.

How many calories are in 1 gallon of gas?

A gallon of gasoline contains about 31,000 calories. Too bad it’s not digestible by humans. A 200-pound person will burn about 110 calories walking one mile, so your theoretical “in good shape” person could probably go about 282 miles, on foot, on a gallon of gas.

How many calories are in 1 liter of gasoline?

A liter of gasoline has 8,325 kcal, or just a few days worth. This also passes the common sense test as cars can run on biodiesel or spent cooking oil, which thus cannot be very different from gasoline, and we can eat cooking oil. Oil contains about 9 Calories per gram, specific gravity of oil is about .