Global energetics of solar flares. I.

We find agreement between the two codes in the measurement of free energies and dissipated energies within a factor of <~3. The size distributions of magnetic parameters exhibit powerlaw slopes that are approximately consistent with the fractal-diffusive self-organized criticality model. The magnetic parameters exhibit scaling laws for the nonpotential energy, E_np_{propto}E_p_^1.02^, for the free energy, E_free_{propto}E_p_^1.7^ and E_free_{propto}B_{phi}_^1.0^L^1.5^, for the dissipated energy, E_diss_{propto}E_p_^1.6^ and E_diss_{propto}E_free_^0.9^ , and the energy dissipation volume, V{propto}E_diss_^1.2^.

The potential energies vary in the range of E_p_=1x10^31^-4x10^33^erg, while the free energy has a ratio of E_free_/E_p_{approx}1%-25%. The Poynting flux amounts to F_flare_{approx}5x10^8^-10^10^erg/cm2/s during flares, which averages to F_AR_{approx}6x10^6^erg/cm2/s during the entire observation period and is comparable with the coronal heating rate requirement in active regions.