Activity 2.1 - Atmosphere: Tracking My Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Problem

We talk about air pollution when the amount of particles and gas in the atmosphere reach harmful concentration. The consequences of air pollution affect people as well as the environment. Air pollution caused around of 4.2 million premature deaths in 2016.  In fact, air pollution lead to “higher rates of cancer, heart disease, stroke, and respiratory diseases such as asthma” (Essick, 2019) as well as being one of the causes of global warming. The energy coming from the sun is absorbed by the earth and only after released. However, pollutants as Carbon Dioxide (CO2), Methane (CH4), Nitrous Oxide (N2O) and Sulfur Hexafluoride (SF6), also called greenhouse gasses, trap in the atmosphere the heat released by the earth. This means that instead of being released, solar energy warms the earth again.

Investigation

In our everyday life, many activities that we do result in emission in greenhouse gasses. Some type of actions directly produces Carbon Dioxide or Methane. Other type of action instead, produce CO2 and Methane indirectly. In this post, I will track for 4 days the activities that I do that produce Carbon Dioxide and Methane both directly and indirectly. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, driving is the most polluting activity that people engage in daily (EPA, 2019a). In fact, car exhaust releases many pollutants including Carbon Dioxide. I am not used to driving every day, but only on the weekend. In four days, I drove for 40 miles. Also according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, electricity production “generates the second largest share of greenhouse gas emissions” (EPA, 2019b) As reported by my CPS portal, my energy use in the target time is 143 kWh. This include energy for light, electronic device, AC (8 hour a day at of 21°C) and showering for 10 minutes every day. In these four days, I did laundry one time washing the clothes at 40° and drying them on the line. Since I do not have a washing machine in my house, the CO2 emission made from doing laundry are separate from my energy usage. Producing paper also produces Carbon Dioxide. In the target time, I used or printed 50 pages. Furthermore, agriculture is the first source of Methane in the US (EPA, n.d.). Since I do not eat meat and any animal product, I will not consider the impact of domestic livestock. However, some cultivations like rice produce methane as well. In four days, I consumed 300 gr of rice. Lastly, I filled half of my trash bag. Landfill generate CH4 when wastes are decomposing and during the treatment of wastewater. In fact, landfills are one of the major sources of Methane in the U.S. (EPA, 2019b).

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Data Analysis and Interpretation

Driving

I drive 40 miles per week with a 2016 Volkswagen Tiguan 2.0 L, 4 cyl, Automatic. 40 miles per 32 weeks is equal to 1,280 miles per year. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, (EPA n.a.4), the car I use needs 23 mpg on highway. This mean that one year of driving with that car is 1,280 miles/23 mpg = 56 gallons of gasoline. Also according to the Environmental Protection Agency, there are 8,887 grams of CO2 emissions per gallon of gasoline consumed. So, 8,887 grams of CO2 x 56 gallons=497,672 grams of carbon dioxide annually or 497.672 kg (EPA, 2018).

Electricity

According to Carbonfound.org, electricity sources emit 1.004 lbs. CO2 per kWh. 143 kHw/ 4 days is 35.75 kHw per day. Yearly it will be 1.004 lbs. x 35.75 kHw x365 days=13100.945 lbs. or 5942.448 kg of CO2. (Carbonfound.org, n.d.).

Laundry 

Washing clothes at 40°C and dried them on the line produce 0.7 kg of CO2. Since I do 1 laundry per week, is 0.7 kg of CO2 at week. It is also 22.4 Carbon Dioxide per year since 0.7 kg x 32 weeks = 22.g kg of CO2 (Clark & Berners-Lee, 2010).

Paper

According to Standard Carbon, a single sheet of paper produces roughly 0.0092 lbs. of CO2. (Standard Carbon, n.d.) If I use 50 pages at week, per year they are 50 pages x 32 weeks= 1600 pages. So, 0.0092 Lbs. x 1600 pages = 14.72 lbs. of CO2 or 667,68797 kg per year.

Food

According to the Environmental Change Institute, the production of 1 kg of rice corresponds to the emission of 100 g of methane (ECI, n.d.). 300 g/ 4 days is equal to 75 g per day. If one year has 365 day, the amount of rice per year is 365 days x 75 g= 27375 g of rice or 27.375 Kg of rice. So 27.375 kg x 100 g of Methane = 2737.5 g of CH4 or 2.7375 Kg.

Garbage

According to Brown, 1 ton of food waste decomposing will produce 65 kg of methane that are 907 kg. if a bag of garbage is around 10 kg and I throw away 5 kg in 4 days (half bag). 5kg of garbage/4 days is 1.25 kg per day. In one year, it will be 1.25 kg x 365 days= 456.25 kg. This mean that (456.25kg waste /907 kg of waste) x 65 kg of Methane= 32.70 kg of Methane.

Explanations and Designing Solutions

The best way to reduce my air pollutant emission is to start from the action that produce the bigger amount. From my data it came out that use of electricity is the activity that produce the higher amount of CO2 in my routine. According to Energy.gov, changing your thermostat temperature by 7F for 8 hours a day can save 10% a year in energy (Energy.gov, n.d.). I use per year 13048 khw producing 5942.448 kg of CO2. This meant that switching my thermostat temperature from 21°C (77F) to 25°C (70F) for 8h, I will reduce my energy use by 10% and, consequently, my CO2 emission (from electricity) by 10%.  The 10% of my original Carbon Dioxide emission is 594.2448. Subtracting it to my original CO2 emission in equal to 5348.2023 kg of CO2 per year.

Graph of my CO2 emission by electricity per year using the AC at 21°C and at 25°C

Citations and References:

Brown, S. (2014, August 20). Connection: Climate Calculations. Retrieved from https://www.biocycle.net/2013/06/19/connection-climate-calculations/

Carbonfound.org. (n.d.). How we calculate. Retrieved from https://carbonfund.org/how-we-calculate/

Clark, D., & Berners-Lee, M. (2010, November 25). What's the carbon footprint of ... a load of laundry? Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/environment/green-living-blog/2010/nov/25/carbon-footprint-load-laundry

Environmental Protection Agency. (n.d.). Find and Compare Cars. Retrieved from https://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/findacar.shtml

Environmental Protection Agency. (2018, December 18). Greenhouse Gases Equivalencies Calculator - Calculations and References. Retrieved from https://www.epa.gov/energy/greenhouse-gases-equivalencies-calculator-calculations-and-references

Environmental Protection Agency. (2019, April 11). Overview of Greenhouse Gases. Retrieved from https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/overview-greenhouse-gases

Environmental Protection Agency. (2019, March 1). Vehicles and Engines. Retrieved from https://www.epa.gov/vehicles-and-engines

Essick, P. (2019, June 25). Air Pollution Causes, Effects, and Solutions. Retrieved from https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/pollution/

Standard Carbon. (n.d.). Do You Really Need To Print That?: The Carbon Footprint of Copy Paper. Retrieved from http://www.standardcarbon.com/2008/06/do-you-really-need-to-print-that-the-carbon-footprint-of-copy-paper/

Environmental Change Institute. (n.d.) Climate science of methane [pdf file]. Retrieved from https://www.eci.ox.ac.uk/research/energy/downloads/methaneuk/chapter02.pdf