CO2 figures

[simon gleave]

Sorry to be a bit thick, but how do they come to the CO2 figures for cars, how does a car put out 225g of CO2 in a km?

[Bibs]

They stick a CO₂ meter up it's derri

[Advantage]

A sheet of white A3 paper is positioned on the floor underneath the exhaust pipe. After ten minutes of the engine running at various rpm, the amount of lumps of coal that's collected on the paper is measured using the Lumps per Gallon scale.

This is why many people are going over to alternative fuels because everybody knows that LPG gives fewer LPG.

[molemot]

Thing that bothers me is...225 grammes..that's nearly half a pound! Every kilometre...strewth...and millions of millions of cars..that's millions of tons of carbon dioxide every day. Must be. Now, 3rd form science taught me that carbon dioxide is heavier than air..so why have all these millions of tons of CO2 not simply formed a layer at the bottom of the atmosphere and asphyxiated all of us already?!

[Jonathan]

Whats the figures for the Esprit then ? Anyone know ?

Fear not John, CO2 makes up 0.03% of the volume of air (apparently) compared to 20% oxygen, its the bloody nitrogen you have to look out for !!

CO2 levels are the lowest there has ever been iirc - facts from a program I watched a week or so ago when these sparks were drilling in the arctic.

Of course that could all be wrong...

[Tentenths]

Mr P, you really are a wrong 'un!

[dave77]

CO2 is a perfectly safe natural gas, exhaled by all animals, and used by all green plants (without which the plants would die0

the CO2 in the atmosphere is a fraction of a percent. All this hype about global warming (errr, cooling, errr.. I mean change) is all Bull Stuff. Al Gore the great liar has gotten many folks and gualible governments to believe the world will over heat (er i mean cool, err i mean change) if the concentration raises just a small tiny fraction of a percent. it is all hog wash.

water vapour (ie clouds) is a much bigger contributer to the green house effect. the science is not settled, the debate is not over (as al gore would have us all believe) there is much evidence that contridicts al gore. keep in mind that al gore is making millions of dollars off this carbon trading scheme, as will many governments. it is a fraud. Do not worry about your cars CO2 output, instead worry about fake science being rammed down your throat and your car, and money confiscated by the authorities.

I have been told that a person driving in a small car produces less CO2 than if the person rode a bicycle the same distance. why??? cause that person burned calories and had to breathe, and that bike riding person breathed a lot to more that bike, and that CO2 that that person exhales is more that what would be produced by an ecomony car driven that distance.

Meanwhile al gore (a shamefull person to be called American) travels in private jets, heats and lights and cools huge mansion(s) and rides in great big cars. He is a fraud as is gloabl warming, im mean cooling, Im mean weather change. (and we all know the climate has never ever changed before, right???) (smile and drive with no guilt!!!)

[cly_mitchell]

Al Gore the great liar has gotten many folks and gualible governments

Al Gore took the word gullible out of the dictionary, so please don't use it anymore. No really.

Cheers

Clay

[Kimbers]

Agreed. 80% of greenhous gasses is water vapour. And we can't do without that! And as the Sun warms the earth up in it's cycles (which anyone with an ounce of intelligence will know is happening now) it creates more water vapour etc. I'm sorry, all these taxes and professional complainers won't change anything! And throwing green custard on the minister for Industry because he wants to make more money for the country is insane!

What we should be putting all our money into is how we change our lives to fit into it, because it's inevitable. The worlds been doing it for millions of years and if anything (us included) doesn't adapt then they are extinct!

I do agree with using less natural resources and recycling. Who wouldn't, thats just common sense!

[simon gleave]

I had forgot about posting this question! Yes what I want to know is how can a car produce 225g of CO2 when its burnt less off in fuel weight?

Is it just me............

By the way, some great thought provoking answers!

[Jonathan]

Someone must know the Esprit figures, be good to know what it's like vs these new cars coming out.

[Roger 912]

Could not agree more. Global warming, HA. When the Romans were in England 2000 years ago the weather was warmer than it is today.

As far as I am concerned it is all the Bullshit that is causing global warming.

[USAndretti42]

I had forgot about posting this question! Yes what I want to know is how can a car produce 225g of CO2 when its burnt less off in fuel weight?

A sensible question. The reason is that 22.4 litres of CO2 is made of 12g of carbon from the fuel and 32g of oxygen most of which comes from the air. (The rest will come from any ethanol in the fuel.) The petrol consists of carbon and hydrogen, e.g. octane is C8H18, i.e. 96g of carbon and 18g of hydrogen. Fully burnt that will produce 8x(12+32) or 352g of CO2 and 9x(2+16) or 162g of water.

So the fuel produces over 3 times its weight in CO2.

For the USA city and Highway fuel consumption fuel consumption figures that have to be published by the manufacturers, the EPA provides a formula to calculate the consumption from the emissions measured. The majority of emissions are CO and CO2 so there is a strong link between the consumption and CO2 emissions.