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| adjie_ds |
 Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2007 3:59 am Post subject: Emission in terms of dollar value |
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Forum Freshman
Joined: 29 Dec 2006
Posts: 8
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Hai,
Perhaps, some of you can help me. I want to know the way to measure potential loss (air pollution etc.) caused CO2 emission from vehicle in terms of dollar value.
Any opinion and help would be much appreciated
Thank you.
Arie |
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| Guest |
| Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2007 8:04 am Post subject: |
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Well I think all you need do is research (by weight) how much CO2 is produced per gallon, which is (if I remember right) around 10Kgs per gallon!
If you are in the US that's around 22pounds of CO2 per 9.5 pounds of fuel!
So it's about 2.4 times the weight of the fuel! |
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| adjie_ds |
| Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2007 9:17 pm Post subject: |
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Forum Freshman
Joined: 29 Dec 2006
Posts: 8
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Thanks about the reply. It opens my mind.
I did a search and put it on my blog
http://envirodiary.com/2007/03/15/calculating-societal-cost-for-gas-your-vehicle-emit/
First thing we need to know is how much carbon dioxide (CO2) will be produced for each gallon gasoline burned. When gasoline burns, carbon and hydrogen separate. The hydrogen combines with oxygen to form water (H2O), and carbon combines with oxygen to form carbon dioxide (CO2). A carbon atom has a weight of 12, and each oxygen atom has a weight of 16, so a single molecule CO2 will have weight of 44 (12 from carbon and 32 from two oxygen molecules).
Therefore, to calculate the amount of CO2 produced from a gallon of gasoline, the weight of the carbon in the gasoline is multiplied by 44/12 or 3.7.
Gasoline has a weight of 6.3 lbs. Since gasoline is about 87% carbon and 13% hydrogen by weight, the carbon in a gallon of gasoline weighs 5.5 pounds (6.3 lbs. x .87). We can then multiply the weight of the carbon (5.5 pounds) by 3.7, which equals 20 pounds of CO2!
Now, how can we get the dollar sign? Well, Bion Howard wrote a paper a few years back entitled “Simplified Pollution Avoidance Calculation for Builders”. An article was published in the Northeast Sun (publication of the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association) in the spring of 1993. He placed the dollar value of the societial costs at 4.8 cents per pound ($96/ton).
Now, you catch the idea, if the societal cost is 4.8 cents per pound of CO2, that would mean, for each gallon our vehicle consumes, basically we burden our environment 4.8 cents/pound x 20 pounds, equal to $0.96/gallon. And that is very expensive.
Regards
Arie Dipareza |
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