Question

Calculate the "carbon footprint" in pounds of CO2 produced for the

. Driving a diesel VW from Toledo to LA that gets 48 mpg of diesel. Assume that the diesel is "light diesel" with a density of 50 lb/ft3 .(approx. 1,004 lb)$

Answer 1

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) guidelines for calculating Carbon Footprint will be used:

1. This requires an oxidation factor be applied to the carbon content to account for a small portion of the fuel that is not oxidized into CO2.

2. For all oil and oil products, the oxidation factor used is 0.99 (99 % of the carbon in the fuel is eventually oxidized, while 1 % remains unoxidized.

3. Finally, to calculate the CO2 emissions from a gallon of fuel, the carbon emissions are multiplied by the ratio of the molecular weight of CO2 (m.w. 44) to the molecular weight of carbon (m.w.12): 44/12.

Therefore,

CO2 emissions from a gallon of diesel = 2,778 grams x 0.99 x (44/12) = 10,084 grams = 10.1 kg/gallon = 22.2 pounds/gallon

Given: 48 miles per gallon which is equal to 1/48 gallon per miles

So, CO2 emissions from (1/48) gallon of diesel per mile = 22.2 x (1/48) = 0.4625 pound per miles

Carbon footprint = 0.404 pounds of CO2 produced per miles