4 ms·

> 100 gallons of gas convert to a ton of CO2 Gasoline is about 87% carbon and 13% hydrogen by weight. And its density is around 700 kg/m^3. 100 gallons is 378.

> 100 gallons of gas convert to a ton of CO2 Gasoline is about 87% carbon and 13% hydrogen by weight. And its density is around 700 kg/m^3. 100 gallons is 378.5 liters, which is 265.0 kg. That is 230.5 kg of carbon. C is 12.011 per atom, O is 15.999, thus that converts to 844.6kg, not a ton. Rounding up by >15% to make numbers more impressive is not nice when we are taking science

epistasis 5y ago
A gallon of gas converts to 20 pounds of CO2, and there are 2000 pounds in a US ton. My first web search hit, just to make sure my memory was not faulty, was this explanation: https://climatekids.nasa.gov/review/carbon/gasoline.html https://climatekids.nasa.gov/review/carbon/gasoline.html Using imperial units is always unfortunate, but when dealing with the typical unit of gasoline in the US, it's inevitable. Not sure where you are getting your numbers, perhaps you're using a UK gallon or something?
- dmitrygr 5y ago
  I gave all my numbers making it trivial to check that I am using the us gallon and. Perhaps a site for kids that you cited isn’t using more than one sig fig?
  - epistasis 5y ago
    The kids site is far more correct than yours, and consistently uses two significant figures in its calculations. See, for example, the US federally accepted value of 19.59 pounds or 8.887 kg CO2/gallon burned: https://www.epa.gov/energy/greenhouse-gases-equivalencies-calculator-calculations-and-references https://www.epa.gov/energy/greenhouse-gases-equivalencies-ca... Your error appears to be using a single significant figure for the density of gasoline, at 700. Other sources place it from 711 to 749 kg/m3. Hopefully you will reconsider my comment being "not nice," since you started with one sig fig and ended with four, and then did not consider the two different meanings of ton. And on top of this all, this ignores all the upstream emissions to generate the gasoline, which is greater than the 15% which you said was "not nice."
    - dmitrygr 5y ago
      378.5 * 749/1000 * .87 * (15.999 * 2 + 12.011) / 12.011 = 903.7 still well short of a ton
      - epistasis 5y ago
        You seem to be accepting that I was able to find your error on the single significant figure. However, I already told you that I was using a US ton, 2000 pounds, 907kg: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=1+ton+in+kg https://duckduckgo.com/?q=1+ton+in+kg Additionally, you are not including the 3-6 pounds per gallon in upstream emissions for gasoline. Let's recall that this all started from the phrase "about 100 gallons of gas convert to a ton of CO2" and that when you quotes, you omitted the "about" so that you could try to make your incorrect quibble relevant. So at this point I would like to call this a very "not nice scientifically" departure from anything relevant, but I'm all ears if you were going somewhere interesting with this.
- dragonwriter 5y ago
  > Using imperial units is always unfortunate, but when dealing with the typical unit of gasoline in the US, it's inevitable. Well, no, when dealing with the typical unit of gasoline in the US, Imperial units are irrelevant, and US Customary units are inevitable.
lostlogin 5y ago
When I search I get a variety of answers, with the bulk being around the same or lower CO2 emissions than your calculation. Why does it the answer vary? Does it change depending on the grade of the fuel?
- epistasis 5y ago
  I have not found a single page with estimates as low as dmitrygr’s 18.6 pounds per gallon. The numbers from the top hits ina web search for me: 19.64 - http://www.patagoniaalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/How-much-carbon-dioxide-is-produced-by-burning-gasoline-and-diesel-fuel-FAQ-U.S.-Energy-Information-Administration-EIA.pdf http://www.patagoniaalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/... 20 - https://climatekids.nasa.gov/review/carbon/gasoline.html https://climatekids.nasa.gov/review/carbon/gasoline.html 20 - https://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/contentincludes/co2_inc.htm https://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/contentincludes/co2_inc.htm 19.6 (converted from grams) - https://www.epa.gov/energy/greenhouse-gases-equivalencies-calculator-calculations-and-references https://www.epa.gov/energy/greenhouse-gases-equivalencies-ca... “Just over 19” - https://epicenergyblog.com/2013/05/24/how-many-pounds-of-carbon-dioxide-co2-does-a-gallon-of-gasoline-produce/ https://epicenergyblog.com/2013/05/24/how-many-pounds-of-car... The next hit isn’t about CO2 from burning Gas, but about the upstream emissions that go into producing gasoline, which it pegs at 3.3 to 6.7 per gallon - https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/ask-mr-green/hey-mr-green-how-much-co2-generated-producing-and-transporting-gallon-gas https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/ask-mr-green/hey-mr-green-... What sort of estimates are you getting?
- dragonwriter 5y ago
  > Why does it the answer vary? Does it change depending on the grade of the fuel? Yes, “gasoline” is a family of related fuels of different densities and compositions, and it will also vary based on assumptions about how it is burned. Incomplete combustion will result in more “dirty” pollution and less CO2.
dragonwriter 5y ago
> Gasoline is about 87% carbon and 13% hydrogen by weight. And its density is around 700 kg/m^3. That density seems to be on the low end; different formulations have different densities, and the sources I’ve found give somewhat different ranges, but the ranges given typically seems to be about 750±35 kg/m³.

epistasis 5y ago

A gallon of gas converts to 20 pounds of CO2, and there are 2000 pounds in a US ton. My first web search hit, just to make sure my memory was not faulty, was this explanation: https://climatekids.nasa.gov/review/carbon/gasoline.html https://climatekids.nasa.gov/review/carbon/gasoline.html Using imperial units is always unfortunate, but when dealing with the typical unit of gasoline in the US, it's inevitable. Not sure where you are getting your numbers, perhaps you're using a UK gallon or something?

dmitrygr 5y ago
I gave all my numbers making it trivial to check that I am using the us gallon and. Perhaps a site for kids that you cited isn’t using more than one sig fig?
- epistasis 5y ago
  The kids site is far more correct than yours, and consistently uses two significant figures in its calculations. See, for example, the US federally accepted value of 19.59 pounds or 8.887 kg CO2/gallon burned: https://www.epa.gov/energy/greenhouse-gases-equivalencies-calculator-calculations-and-references https://www.epa.gov/energy/greenhouse-gases-equivalencies-ca... Your error appears to be using a single significant figure for the density of gasoline, at 700. Other sources place it from 711 to 749 kg/m3. Hopefully you will reconsider my comment being "not nice," since you started with one sig fig and ended with four, and then did not consider the two different meanings of ton. And on top of this all, this ignores all the upstream emissions to generate the gasoline, which is greater than the 15% which you said was "not nice."
  - dmitrygr 5y ago
    378.5 * 749/1000 * .87 * (15.999 * 2 + 12.011) / 12.011 = 903.7 still well short of a ton
    - epistasis 5y ago
      You seem to be accepting that I was able to find your error on the single significant figure. However, I already told you that I was using a US ton, 2000 pounds, 907kg: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=1+ton+in+kg https://duckduckgo.com/?q=1+ton+in+kg Additionally, you are not including the 3-6 pounds per gallon in upstream emissions for gasoline. Let's recall that this all started from the phrase "about 100 gallons of gas convert to a ton of CO2" and that when you quotes, you omitted the "about" so that you could try to make your incorrect quibble relevant. So at this point I would like to call this a very "not nice scientifically" departure from anything relevant, but I'm all ears if you were going somewhere interesting with this.
dragonwriter 5y ago
> Using imperial units is always unfortunate, but when dealing with the typical unit of gasoline in the US, it's inevitable. Well, no, when dealing with the typical unit of gasoline in the US, Imperial units are irrelevant, and US Customary units are inevitable.

lostlogin 5y ago

When I search I get a variety of answers, with the bulk being around the same or lower CO2 emissions than your calculation. Why does it the answer vary? Does it change depending on the grade of the fuel?

epistasis 5y ago
I have not found a single page with estimates as low as dmitrygr’s 18.6 pounds per gallon. The numbers from the top hits ina web search for me: 19.64 - http://www.patagoniaalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/How-much-carbon-dioxide-is-produced-by-burning-gasoline-and-diesel-fuel-FAQ-U.S.-Energy-Information-Administration-EIA.pdf http://www.patagoniaalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/... 20 - https://climatekids.nasa.gov/review/carbon/gasoline.html https://climatekids.nasa.gov/review/carbon/gasoline.html 20 - https://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/contentincludes/co2_inc.htm https://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/contentincludes/co2_inc.htm 19.6 (converted from grams) - https://www.epa.gov/energy/greenhouse-gases-equivalencies-calculator-calculations-and-references https://www.epa.gov/energy/greenhouse-gases-equivalencies-ca... “Just over 19” - https://epicenergyblog.com/2013/05/24/how-many-pounds-of-carbon-dioxide-co2-does-a-gallon-of-gasoline-produce/ https://epicenergyblog.com/2013/05/24/how-many-pounds-of-car... The next hit isn’t about CO2 from burning Gas, but about the upstream emissions that go into producing gasoline, which it pegs at 3.3 to 6.7 per gallon - https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/ask-mr-green/hey-mr-green-how-much-co2-generated-producing-and-transporting-gallon-gas https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/ask-mr-green/hey-mr-green-... What sort of estimates are you getting?
dragonwriter 5y ago
> Why does it the answer vary? Does it change depending on the grade of the fuel? Yes, “gasoline” is a family of related fuels of different densities and compositions, and it will also vary based on assumptions about how it is burned. Incomplete combustion will result in more “dirty” pollution and less CO2.

dragonwriter 5y ago

> Gasoline is about 87% carbon and 13% hydrogen by weight. And its density is around 700 kg/m^3. That density seems to be on the low end; different formulations have different densities, and the sources I’ve found give somewhat different ranges, but the ranges given typically seems to be about 750±35 kg/m³.