Greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel-powered vehicles is an abstract idea. We all know gases are very, very light. Hydrogen and helium are lighter than oxygen or nitrogen, but to most of us, they are just “air.” A column of air, as thick as the entire atmosphere, generates a pressure of about 14.7 pounds per square inch. But what’s it weigh? We don’t seem to notice it, bearing down on us, so we all think of it as being almost weightless.
Let’s quantify it a bit, to make it more ‘real.’
The EPA has the equation shown above, posted on their website, to illustrate the weight of carbon dioxide generated by a theoretical average car that gets 21.6 miles per gallon (gasoline, not diesel, which generates even more CO2) by driving 11,400 miles.
4.7 metric tons. hmmmm…
One metric ton is 1.10231 US tons. (Don’t you love that we’re the only ones not using the metric system?) So, 4.7 metric tons is 5.18 US tons, or 10,360 pounds (5.18 X 2,000). How do we make that more real, in discussing air pollution? Well, what else out there weighs 5.18 tons?
Let’s use something we may be more familiar with than tons. The 2017 Chevy Suburban SUV has a curb weight of 5,704 pounds, or 2.85 tons. If an average car generates 5.18 tons of CO2 in a year that means the weight of the CO2 generated by this theoretical average car, driving an average number of miles is approximately 1.82 Chevy Suburbans!
Think about that, for a moment. Let it sink in.
For every single year that this average car is on the road, it puts out almost 2 Chevy Suburbans’ weight in CO2. Man, that’s heavy.
Enjoy your Sunday.
Don’t you just love math?
Yes. I got that from you, dad. If things aren’t quantified, they are nebulous and undefined. SOHCAHTOA!
P.S. I didn’t know you read my blog.