toe
Abbreviation with 2 meanings
| Stands for | Tonne of oil equivalent |
|---|---|
| Meanings | 2 |
| Categories | Units & Measurements, Science & Engineering |
| Also written | TOE |
toe has two meanings. It stands for Tonne of oil equivalent (engineering unit) or Theory of everything (physics).
Meanings of toe at a glance
| # | toe stands for | Context |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tonne of oil equivalent | Units & Measurements › Engineering Unit |
| 2 | Theory of everything | Science & Engineering › Physics |
1. Tonne of oil equivalent
Units & Measurements · Engineering Unit Abbreviations
Energy unit used in international energy statistics, defined by the IEA as 41.868 gigajoules, roughly the energy in one tonne of crude oil. It lets coal, gas, nuclear and renewables be compared on a common scale.
Example: The country's primary energy supply was 280 Mtoe last year.
Large aggregates use Mtoe (million toe); world primary energy supply is roughly 15,000 Mtoe. The related boe (barrel of oil equivalent) is used by oil and gas companies to combine oil and gas reserves in one figure. Energy statisticians conventionally keep toe in lowercase.
2. Theory of everything (TOE)
Science & Engineering · Physics Abbreviations
Hypothetical single framework that would explain all fundamental forces, including gravity, and all particles in one consistent theory. String theory and loop quantum gravity are leading candidates, but none has been confirmed by experiment.
Example: Einstein spent his last decades searching for a unified field theory, an early form of a TOE.
Physicists use the term partly tongue in cheek, since even a complete TOE would not let anyone calculate the behavior of complex systems such as weather or living cells. The 2014 film The Theory of Everything, about Stephen Hawking, brought the phrase into popular culture.
Related abbreviations
More engineering unit abbreviations
- rem – Roentgen equivalent man
- RPM – Revolutions per minute
- SEER – Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio
- thm – Therm
- TPI – Threads per inch
- TR – Ton of refrigeration
- TWh – Terawatt-hour
- V – Volt
See all 103 engineering unit abbreviations →