2 ms·
My guess is yes, especially if the plastic was made from fossil fuels.
by chewbacha 5y ago
My guess is yes, especially if the plastic was made from fossil fuels.
- divbzero 5y agoLooks like it would add a single digit percentage to our global greenhouse gas emissions. For the most widely produced plastics we have: [2] Plastic Production (2015) 01 PET (C10H8O4)n 63% C 33 Mt plastic 21 Mt C 02 PE-HD (C2H4)n 86% C 52 Mt plastic 45 Mt C 03 PVC (C2H3Cl)n 38% C 38 Mt plastic 14 Mt C 04 PE-LD (C2H4)n 86% C 64 Mt plastic 55 Mt C 05 PP (C3H6)n 86% C 68 Mt plastic 58 Mt C 06 PS (C8H8)n 92% C 25 Mt plastic 23 Mt C For greenhouse gas we have: [3] Greenhouse gas Emission (2019) Carbon dioxide CO2 27% C 57,000 Mt gas 15,000 Mt C Altogether we have about 200 Mt C in plastics vs. 15,000 Mt C in greenhouse gas emissions. [2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plastic#Commodity_plastics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plastic#Commodity_plastics [3]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenhouse_gas_emissions#Measurements_and_calculations https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenhouse_gas_emissions#Measu...
- chewbacha 5y agoWow, I didn't realize that plastic production was 3 orders of magnitude different than emissions. That would likely make it seem much smaller. I'd caution reading too much into the yearly rates because it's estimated that we already have produced and tossed 8 billion tons of plastic. This would all potentially be substrate to any bacterium that is able to digest it and could be freed to the atmosphere. This is still smaller than the yearly output of emissions but breaking it all down and releasing it would result in about a years worth of emissions. I think the answer is still "yes" but it's not a concern.