Welcome to the numbers |
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Increase in atmospheric CO2 caused by burning fossil fuelsInstead of expressing fossil fuel as billions of tonnes etc, I've converted everything to the ppm of CO2 that would be released should the fuel be burnt. 1 ppm of CO2 is produced by 8 GT of CO2 which is in turn produced by burning 2 GT of coal or oil, or 3 GT of methane.
Much of this CO2 will be absorbed by the ocean, but it is leading to acidification. Data source: BP Statistical Review of World Energy (June 2010) |
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How fast is atmospheric CO2 increasing?
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In 2012, the CO2 level is 391 ppm. At 2 ppm per year, that is 30 years to rise to 450 ppm CO2 |
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Estimated emissions from worldwide fossil fuel use and the annual increase in atmospheric CO2 sourced from http://cdiac.ornl.gov/trends/CO2/contents.htm . |
Estimated emissions from worldwide fossil fuel use and the estimated amount of CO2 absorbed by land and ocean, calculated by subtraction of the atmospheric CO2 increase from the estimated emissions from fossil fuels. |
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Businesses that are threatened, are telling us there is no problem. It makes sense to listen to and act upon the scientists' advice. We need to:
What is on the website?On this website we're trying to produce a definitive collection of the technology for achieving the above. We also need to know how energy is produced at present in order to modify, improve, or avoid these methods. It is difficult to give an accurate and unbiased opinion on many of the technologies as there are commercial and political pressures distorting or hiding much of the information. Also, everyone is naturally enthusiastic about and loyal to their project and may tend to exaggerate, or sell the advantages. Many of the websites are written by PR writers making them almost useless. There is also a loyalty to an employer or industry providing a living, and this can lead to a resistance to change, and often denial. There is a lot of misinformation produced by organizations funded by fossil fuel corporations and similar. The whole site is under construction as we're trying to get the "facts" right and complete. Then we'll work on the wording, look, and feel. If we've got facts wrong, please let us know at editor@anthroposane.org If you want to volunteer to help write a section or two, please email us. John Davis David Sentinella 2012 |
For the source of the picture, and more information, click on it. |
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The calculations are very simpleThe mass of the atmosphere is simply: air pressure x area of the Earth. Mass of atmosphere=5x1015 tonnes CO2 produced by burning is easy to calculate too. Coal is on average C135 H96 O9 N S. So coal is 85% carbon. Oil on average is approximately (CH2)n. So oil is 85% carbon Gas is CH4. So methane is 75% carbon. 12 T (t) of Carbon combine with 32 Tt of oxygen to produce 44 T of CO2 CO2 produced = (Coal x 0.85 + Oil x 0.85 + Gas x 0.75) x 44/12 |
To convert from CO2 concentration by mass to volume ( molar). MW CO2 is 44. MW air is 29 CO2 by volume = Mass CO2/Mass of atmos x 29/44 = Tonnes CO2/5 x 1015 x 29/44 x 106 ppm |
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