Save our Planet
Car pollution adds up and sticks around. Did you know....
The exhaust coming out of our car has actual weight—an average household with two medium-sized sedans emits more than 20,000 pounds of carbon dioxide (CO2) a year. That's 10 tons of pollution adding to the greenhouse effect. SUVs tend to emit more global warming pollution than smaller cars—as much as 40 percent more exhaust.
Here's how it adds up: A gallon of gasoline weighs just over 6 pounds. When burned, the carbon in it combines with oxygen to produce about 19 pounds of CO2. Adding in the energy that went into making and distributing the fuel, the total global warming pollution is about 25 pounds of CO2 per gallon. An average car that gets 21 mpg and is driven about 30 miles a day uses 1.4 gallons daily and emits 35.7 pounds of CO2 every day. That's a lot of pounds when multiplied by the millions of cars across the country.
Heat-trapping pollution, like that from cars and trucks, can stay in the atmosphere for several decades to about a century. For instance, some emissions from Ford's 1912 Model Ts are still up in the atmosphere today, thickening the blanket of greenhouse gases that are heating up the planet.
Population growth has helped put more cars on the road, and a strong economy has led to more cars per driver. These trends combined with poor gas mileage mean we're facing a dangerous situation.
| The Annual Cost of Lower Fuel Efficiency | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Average gas mileage | Average fuel used (based on 12,000 miles per year) | Approximate greenhouse gas pollution | Approximate Cost (based on $2.30/gallon) |
| 50 mpg | 240 gallons | 2.7 tons/year | $552 |
| 40 mpg | 300 gallons | 3.4 tons/year | $690 |
| 30 mpg | 400 gallons | 4.5 tons/year | $920 |
| 25 mpg | 480 gallons | 5.4 tons/year | $1,104 |
| 20 mpg | 600 gallons | 6.8 tons/year | $1,380 |
| 15 mpg | 800 gallons | 9 tons/year | $1,840 |
| 10 mpg | 1,200 gallons | 13.6 tons/year | $2,760 |
Source from http://www.fightglobalwarming.com/page.cfm?tagID=263
Check out this nifty calculator to see how much carbon dioxide your car/household puts into the air.
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