Energon cube

This is the safest form of Energon, used for transportation and storage.

Cartoon canon


As originally introduced, Energon Cubes seemed as though they could only be created by Soundwave, who generated the empty cube framework from his similarly-shaped chest, but later, several other Decepticons proved able to produce them as well. It seemed as if Energon cubes were a recent Decepticon invention -- precisely when they were conceived is unclear -- as the Autobots were apparently unaware of them until their reawakening on Earth in 1984, when Hound described them to Prime as simply "some kind of cube". (This is a little perplexing in light of the fact that energon cubes were also shown to have existed by the time of Optimus Prime's creation at the end of Cybertron's Golden Age. By 2005, however, the Autobots had begun to use Energon Cubes for power as well. Exactly how an Energon Cube operates is unclear, especially as their framework appears to be some sort of self-sustaining force field with no internal mechanisms.  Most frequently, the empty cube is simply attached to or placed near the energy source from which it is to drain power, and the energy in question is automatically converted into liquid energon that fills the cube. Energon Cubes have proven able to transform a vast array of resources into energon, including electricity, magma, oil and steam.  Energon seems to have a much higher energy potential than carbon-based fuel sources:  1000 barrels of oil are needed to fill a single energon cube, and the electrical energy within the synapses of the human brain are insufficient to generate even a few drops.

The liquid Energon within Energon Cubes is a glowing pink color, although the cubes could also be compressed for easy storage and transport, causing them to take on an iridescent rainbow effect.

The stability of Energon cubes varies tremendously. Sometimes they can be hit by laser fire and merely evaporate, other times they can survive being caught in a cave in and sometimes they tend to explode violently if even dropped on the floor. If enough are gathered together, the resulting explosion is powerful enough to throw a planet hundreds of lightyears across the galaxy. Perhaps it's best to leave their construction to Soundwave...

Power

 * Thanks to the exalted leader of Carbomya, we know 1000 barrels of oil makes a single Energon cube. This means each cube contains the equivalent power of 42,000 US Gallons of crude oil. If refined into gasoline (with a conservative 30% yield ratio) that much oil would keep Bumblebee's Volkswagen alt-mode (with a rough value of 40MPG) going for approximately half a million miles without needing to refuel! That's enough to circumnavigate the Earth over seventeen times without stopping! No wonder a few cubes of the stuff got ol' Megsy drunk off his rocker!

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