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That’s not true. They produce more sulphur dioxide, a pollutant that cars don’t emit much of in general, and which the heavy fuel used by ships generates in abu
by mikeash 8y ago
That’s not true. They produce more sulphur dioxide, a pollutant that cars don’t emit much of in general, and which the heavy fuel used by ships generates in abundance. Somehow the story morphed from “a few ships emit more of this specific pollutant than all cars” to “more pollution” to “more CO2.”
The entire worldwide shipping industry accounts for about 3% of humanity’s CO2 emissions.
- cstejerean 8y agoAnd how does that 3% compare to the total CO2 from personal vehicles?
- bobthepanda 8y ago"Road transport" was 16.5% of global emissions in 2008: https://www.who.int/sustainable-development/transport/health-risks/climate-impacts/en/ https://www.who.int/sustainable-development/transport/health...
- austincheney 8y agoRoad transport includes all transportation on roads, which isn't passenger vehicles. Passenger vehicles are less than half of that and growth of the CO2 emissions from passenger vehicles is nearly flat year over year. The maritime shipping sector, on the other hand, is growing emissions output as much as 75% every 15 years.
- austincheney 8y ago> The entire worldwide shipping industry accounts for about 3% of humanity’s CO2 emissions. To my knowledge personally owned vehicles account for a similar percentage of total CO2 output, so that number while small is a red herring. People tend to generate more CO2 per capita as a result of air conditioning than from the vehicles they drive.
- nanokilo 8y agoDo you have sources for all of these claims?
- throwaway5752 8y agoYou are very incorrect on most of what you've posted here, but this is embarrassing since you could verify this with basic math. An air conditioner typically consumes in the neighborhood of 4kW, less than half the day, less than half the year. So, being generous, 6000kWh annually for air conditioning. Gasoline has the equivalent of 34kWh/gallon, which implies air conditioning uses the equivalent of 176 gallons of gas per year. The average person in the US drives over 13,000 miles per year. The average car gets 25 mpg. That is 520 gallons.
- dzhiurgis 8y agoIn reality difference is probably 4x - household has two cars and AC is shared over 2 people.
- austincheney 8y ago> An air conditioner typically consumes in the neighborhood of 4kW That is not true globally. I live in Kuwait, which can get up to 140F during the day in the summer. At any rate if you want numbers (since people are crying about research without doing any of their own) here are some: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19438999 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19438999
- throwaway5752 8y agoHow many days was Kuwait over 130F last year?
- austincheney 8y agoMost days May through September experience an average high of actual temperature of around 120F each day with 100% sunshine. Its the heat index that brings it up to about 140F. You have to understand that during the summer here there is relatively lower humidity during peak sunlight which refracts less light before hitting the ground. The ground here is also highly reflective of heat, which is felt at least 5 to 6 feet off the ground (the height of most people). Another way to look at (and there is a lot of data on this) is which nations produce the most CO2 per capita and then work backwards asking why that is.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]