Did you know…

There are 6 Kyoto greenhouse gases (GHGs), of which carbon dioxide (CO2) is the most prevalent?

In 2008, 13.2 million new cars were sold in the US alone?

A vehicle with a fuel economy of 19mpg emits approximately one pound of CO2 per mile?  If driven 12, 000 miles, that’s over 5 tons of CO2 per year!

There are approximately 250 million vehicles registered in the US.  If each car is driven 12,000 miles and produces an average of 5.5 tons of CO2 per year, that would equal 1,375,000,000 tons annually!

Picture this:

One ton of CO2 has a volume of 500 cubic meters at standard temperature and pressure.

It would take the average driver less than 12,000 miles to fill an Olympic sized swimming pool with GHG emissions.

The average car, driven 12,000 miles, will produce enough GHG emissions in one year to fill a 3,000 sq. ft house 3.3 times!

Calculations

Assumptions

1 ton = 1,000 kg
1 ton CO2 = 500 m3 CO2 at standard temperature and pressure
1 kg = 2.2045 lbs
1 m3 = 35.3147 ft3
12,000 miles = the number of miles the average car is driven = 5.5 tons CO2
250,000,000 registered vehicles in the US

Volume (V) = Length (L) x Width (W) x Height (H)

Olympic swimming pool
L = 50m,  W = 25m,  H = 2m
50 x 25 x 2 = 2500 m3   or   88,286.667 ft3

≈ 3,000 sq. ft house
L = 11.667m,   W = 11.667m,   H = 6.061m
11.667 x 11.667 x 6.061 = 825.017m3   or   29,615 ft3
If 1 ton CO2 = 500 m3 CO2, then it will take 1.65 tons of CO2 to fill an 825.017m3 house.

US transportation emissions
250,000,000 vehicles x 5.5 tons CO2 = 1,375,000,000 tons of CO2