Automobiles: Single drivers on average consume nearly 0.11 liters of fuel for every kilometer travelled. When carbon-based fuels are burned, they emit about 3.15 times their weight as carbon dioxide (CO2). Given that 1 liter of gasoline weighs 760 grams it will then emit 2.4 kilograms of CO2 when burned. Therefore, a single driver is responsible for about 239 grams of CO2 for every kilometer travelled.

Planes: The Boeing 737 airplane is the most produced jet airliner is history. There are over 1,250 in the air at any given moment. Each burns about 50 liters per minute at an average speed of 850 kilometers per hour. That means that each kilometer travelled by a 737 burns over 14 liters. Considering that the average plane can seat around 145 people, each passenger of a 737 is responsible for nearly 0.10 liters of jet fuel for each kilometer travelled. Given that 1 liter of jet fuel weighs about 830 grams, it will then emit 2.61 kilograms of CO2 when burned. Therefore, a single airline passenger is responsible for about 261 grams of CO2 for every kilometer travelled.

Trains: Rail has the unique ability to run purely off of an electrical power grid which, in the case of China, is 90 percent powered by fossil fuels. The power grid in the USA is 70 percent powered by fossil fuels and in Britain, 74 percent. The ATOC (Association of Train Operating Companies) estimates that the average British rail passenger is responsible for 61 grams of CO2 for every kilometer travelled.


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China is home to nearly 78,000 kilometers of railroad track. With an investment of 292 billion US dollars, China plans to expand its railway network to 120,000 kilometers. Of the proposed expansion, 13,000 kilometers will be high-speed rail.

In 2008, nearly 1.5 billion train tickets were purchased in China resulting in over 773 billion kilometers travelled by rail. Taking into account the British estimate of 61 grams and China's fossil fuel-powered electric grid, China's rail would be responsible for over 74 grams of CO2 per passenger per kilometer travelled. Therefore, China's 2008 rail service would account for 57 billion kilograms of CO2.

If China's 1.5 billion rail travelers had decided to fly the same distance instead of riding the rails in 2008, it would have been responsible for an additional 145 billion kilograms of CO2. The average human's respiration emits approximately 1 kilogram of CO2 per day. The theoretical amount of CO2 saved by China's rail service is equivalent to adding nearly 400 million more breathing humans to the planet.


Sources:

Electricity Production in China. Library of Parliament. October, 2009.
http://www.parl.gc.ca/information/library/PRBpubs/prb0704-e.htm.

Making Electricity for the UK. Association of Electricity Producers. October, 2009.
http://www.aepuk.com/need_info.php.

Steiner, Christopher. $20 Per Gallon. Grand Central Publishing: 1 edition. July 15,2009.

Baseline Energy Statement – Energy Consumption and Carbon Dioxide Emissions on the Railway. ATOC. March, 2007.
http://www.atoc-comms.org/admin/userfiles/Baseline%20statement%20-%20FINAL%20-%20Print%20version.pdf

High-Speed Rail in China. The Transport Politic. January 12, 2009.
http://www.thetransportpolitic.com/2009/01/12/high-speed-rail-in-china/

Rail Transport in the People's Republic of China. Wikipedia. October, 2009.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rail_transport_in_the_People's_Republic_of_China

Daley, Will. Bombadier China Venture Wins $4 Billion Train Award. Bloomberg. September 28, 2009.
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China Completes "Lifeline" Railway in Mountainous Yunnan. Xinhua. September 28, 2009.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-09/28/content_12122670.htm

The price of gasoline at the pumps in the Netherlands is currently 1.42 Euros per liter, the equivalent of $7.60 per gallon. The price of gasoline at the pumps in Venezuela is currently 0.097 bolivares fuerte per liter, the equivalent of about $0.16 per gallon.

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Driving: If the price of gasoline in US America rose to $10 per gallon, it would cost $225 to fill the tank of a Ford Explorer. Driving to work 10 miles and back would cost about $13 per day. If one worked an average of 230 days per year, yearly work transportation costs would near $3,000. Being that the average American drives a total of 15,000 miles per year, the money spent on fuel for the SUV would rise to a total of about $8,800 per year. It is estimated that at this rate, the gas bill for the average family would rise from 16 percent of its retail spending to 40 percent.

Air Travel: There are about 11 million commercial flights flown domestically and internationally to and from the USA each year. The planes get an average of about 0.2 miles per gallon of jet fuel at a wholesale cost of just over $1 per gallon. Averaging about 800 miles per flight, all US commercial airlines combined spend about $44 billion per year on fuel alone. If the hypothetical price increase were to proportionally affect jet fuel, commercial airlines would be forced to spend about $140 billion on fuel each year. Historically, fuel expenses account for about 15 percent of airline operation costs. Under the hypothetical price increase, fuel costs would account for 40 percent of operation costs driving the price of air tickets up at least $50 for every $100 in fares. And even with such a price increase, it is predicted that over 1 half of all American airplanes would be grounded as they'd be too costly to fly.

Electricity: As increasing fuel costs push people towards hybrid and electric cars, the demands for electricity would increase at least 2-fold. At current capacity, the US energy grid only supports enough electricity to power 84 percent of the country's automobiles – that is if all gasoline-powered cars were traded in for hybrids. With over 26 percent of the world's known coal reserves residing in the USA, and with no major investments in a sustainable energy grid, agencies would have no choice but to drastically increase coal-fired electricity production.

Food: Eighty years ago, it was rare that American foods ever travelled more than 100 miles from the farm to the consumer. Now it is estimated that the average American meal travels 1500 miles to get from the farm to the plate. Transportation alone is responsible for 8.5 percent of food costs. With gasoline costing $10 per gallon, transportation would account for about 26.5 percent of non-local food costs, and prices would rise more than 25 cents on the dollar. This would result in the resurgence of local, small-scale food production to eliminate the 26.5 percent cost of food transportation.

* * * * *

If the hypothetical price increase was to come in the form of government taxes at the pumps, even with a 50% drop in consumption by American drivers, then in theory the government could save over $1 trillion per year that could be reinvested in a sustainable transportation infrastructure without increasing the costs of air travel.

China, with over 78,000 kilometers of railroad track, carries 25 percent of the world's total railway workload. It is the primary mode of long distance transportation with over 1.4 billion tickets sold each year at about 1 third the cost of air travel. With a new investment of $292 billion, China plans to extend its railway coverage from 78,000 kilometers to 120,000 kilometers by 2020.

By contrast, Americans only get about 0.56 percent of their total transportation miles by rail. Air travel accounts for 10.61 percent while highway driving accounts for 88.79 percent.


Sources:

Skeel, Shirley. What if Gas Cost $10 a Gallon? MSN Money. May 16, 2008.
http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/SavingandDebt/SaveonaCar/WhatIfGasCost10DollarsAGallon.aspx.

Mouawad, Jad. Lessons on How to Guzzle Less Gas, From Europe and Japan. The New York Times. April, 2009.
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Schoen, John W. What Does Gasoline Cost in Other Countries? MSNBC. April, 2006.
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Energy/Fuel. Air Transport Association. July, 2009.
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2007 Gasoline Consumption. American Fuels. March 8, 2008.
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Boehmer, Jay. 2009 Business Travel Survey: U.S. Airlines Swap Fuel Prices for Demand Crisis. Business Travel News. June 1, 2009.
http://www.btnonline.com/businesstravelnews/headlines/frontpage_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003978712

Summary 2008 Traffic Data for U.S. and Foreign Airlines: Total Passengers Down 3.5 Percent From 2007. Rita Bureau of Transportation. April 23, 2009.
http://www.bts.gov/press_releases/2009/bts019_09/html/bts019_09.html

Rail Transport in the People's Republic of China. Wikipedia. July, 2009
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rail_transport_in_the_People's_Republic_of_China

Transportation in the United States. Wikipedia. July, 2009.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transportation_in_the_United_States

The sun, amounting to 99.8 percent of the entire solar system's mass, produces a relatively constant energy output of 386 billion trillion kilowatts. The Earth's ape-like inhabitants use approximately 15 trillion kilowatt-hours per year. Therefore, if 1 second of energy created from the sun could be harnessed, it would be enough to power the earth's cumulative energy demands for 7,148,148 years.

* * * * *

Gas-Powered Sedan: The 2006 Volkswagen Golf GLS TDI gets between 37 and 44 miles per gallon of gasoline depending upon whether it is in the city or on the highway. That means that it burns about .0247 gallons per mile. One gallon of gasoline weighs only about 6 pounds, but when burned produces 19.4 pounds of carbon dioxide. Therefore, the 2006 Volkswagen Golf emits approximately 4.8 pounds of carbon dioxide per ten miles traveled.

Gas-Powered SUV: The 2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo 4X4 gets a maximum of 21 miles per gallon of gasoline or .0476 gallons per mile. Therefore, the 2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee emits approximately 9.2 pounds of carbon dioxide per ten miles traveled.

Hybrid: The most fuel-efficient, gasoline-powered car in the US is the rather unsightly Honda Insight, a hybrid that gets between 60 and 66 miles per gallon depending on whether it is in the city or on the highway. However, it only seats 2 people. 62.5 miles per gallon is equal to .0157 gallons per mile. Therefore, the Honda Insight emits approximately 3.1 pounds of carbon dioxide per ten miles traveled.

Diesel: In 2010, many European and Japanese automobile companies will introduce their new clean-diesel vehicles to the US. The Diesel Honda Accord will get 62.8 miles per gallon whether in the city or on the highway. It seats 5 people and can run off of bio-diesel as well as regular diesel. Diesel has higher energy content than gasoline and gives automobiles the ability to travel 30% farther on one gallon. The downside is that it takes 25% more unrefined petroleum to make 1 gallon of diesel than it does to make gasoline. 62.8 miles per gallon is equal to .0159 gallons per mile. Every gallon of diesel burned produces 22.2 pounds of carbon dioxide. Therefore, the Diesel Honda Accord will emit approximately 3.5 pounds of carbon dioxide per ten miles traveled.

Bio-diesel: With the combustion of bio-diesel, there is a 50 percent reduction in particulate matter and a 60-90 percent decrease in air toxics such as carbon monoxide. In addition, there are 75 percent less carbon dioxide emissions. However, bio-diesel gets 11 percent less miles per gallon than regular diesel. So in theory, the Diesel Honda Accord run on B100 bio-diesel would get about 55.9 miles per gallon and emit 5.55 pounds of carbon dioxide per gallon. Therefore, the Diesel Honda Accord run on pure bio-diesel would emit approximately 1.0 pound of carbon dioxide per ten miles traveled.

Ethanol: It takes 1.5 gallons of ethanol to travel the same distance as 1 gallon of gasoline. In 2006, the cost of domestic ethanol came to $3.16 per gallon. This means that one would have to pay $4.74 to get the same mileage as 1 gallon of gasoline. In addition, according to the EPA, volatile organic materials such as formaldehyde and ascetic acid produced from ethanol factories are up to 10 times worse than the acceptable amount. Environmentally, emissions from ethanol are quite positive; but in the life cycle of growing corn or sugar cane, producing ethanol and consuming it, the petroleum that goes into the entire procedure only amounts to a total savings in fuel efficiency of 10 percent. So in theory, the Volkswagen Golf run on bio-diesel, would get about 44.6 mpg. Therefore, the vehicle would emit approximately 4.3 pounds of carbon dioxide per ten miles traveled.

Electric: The Tesla Roadster is an electric car that goes 0-60 in 4 seconds. Its top speed is 130 mph with a range of over 200 miles per charge. It has a battery life of about 100,000 miles and receives a full battery charge in 3.5 hours. Its cost is $92,950. The electricity that would power this car comes from over 70% hydrocarbon-producing energy sources in the US and over 80% in China. In addition, due to America's failure to due away with its copper-based electric network, over 10 percent of all electricity generated is lost to resistance in the wires. To fully charge the vehicles battery takes 56 kilowatt-hours of electricity assuming no electricity is lost during plug-in. In 2006, 3.7 trillion kilowatt-hours of electricity was consumed in the USA. The production of that electricity emitted approximately 2.3 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide. Therefore, the electric grid that the Tesla Roadster would be plugged into produces about .00062 tons of carbon dioxide per kilowatt-hour consumed. That means that the 56 kilowatt-hour charge needed to power-up the Tesla Roadster would emit .035 metric tons or 77 pounds of carbon dioxide from the production of electricity. Being that the Tesla Roadster electric car has the ability to travel 200 miles on one charge, it therefore emits approximately 3.7 pounds of carbon dioxide per ten miles traveled.

Hydrogen Fuel Cells: The emissions produced from vehicles using hydrogen fuel is 100 percent water in the form of vapor. However, 95% of America's hydrogen is produced from natural gas. Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles can now travel 300 miles on 17.6 pounds of hydrogen or .0588 pounds per mile. Making 1 pound of hydrogen produced from natural gas emits approximately 2 pounds of carbon dioxide. Therefore, a hydrogen fuel cell powered automobile would emit approximately 1.2 pounds of carbon dioxide per ten miles traveled.

Simple Mathematics CO2 Efficiency Ratings
1.0 – Bio-diesel
1.2 – Hydrogen Fuel Cells
3.1 – Hybrid
3.5 – Diesel
3.7 – Electric
4.3 – Ethanol
4.8 – Gas-Powered Sedan
9.2 – Gas-Powered SUV
** (Ratings in pounds of carbon dioxide produced per ten miles traveled.)

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Hybrids can result in a 35 percent reduction in CO2 emissions, but fossil fuel consumption is set to rise by 34 percent by 2030. Therefore, it is fairly shortsighted to invest in a 35% solution. And with only a 27% decrease in CO2 emissions clean diesel suffers the same problem.

According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, the combustion of B100, or pure bio-diesel, results in about 10 percent more nitrogen oxide emissions (emissions responsible for smog) than do the emissions of regular diesel. However, bio-diesel can be produced from nearly any organic oil which promotes crop rotation and with close to an 80% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions, it is a difficult option to ridicule. Ethanol, on the other hand, would require the clear cutting of rainforests for monoculture corn and sugarcane plantations to supply America's demands, and the benefits of ethanol only amount to only a 10% reduction in overall carbon dioxide emissions than do the most efficient gasoline-powered sedans.

Electric powered vehicles amount to a 23% decrease in CO2 emissions and takes the pollution away from the cities and puts it at the power plants; but being that carbon dioxide is a green house gas, it's effects are just as severe no matter where on earth the emissions originate. Carbon dioxide emissions related to electric automobiles completely depends upon where the electricity originates, so an electric automobile charged from 100 percent wind or solar power emits no carbon dioxide at all. In China, it is possible to buy a 3 kilowatt wind turbine for home use that is about the same size as a street lamp and relatively silent for $2,500 which would be more than sufficient to power a Tesla Roadster and just about everything in an average household. In addition, restructuring America's power grid with superconductors would conserve 10 percent more electricity.

Hydrogen fuel cells would lessen CO2 emissions by 75%, but would cost close to $1 trillion just to set up the infrastructure. With improved technology, hydrogen could be a 100% CO2-free solution if it was produced via renewable energy resources. However, with present technologies, it would cost up to $3 trillion. Nuclear power also produces no carbon dioxide emissions, and at present, China is constructing a $300 million nuclear plant that can generate 195 thousand kilowatts and, in theory, is completely protected from meltdowns.

* * * * *

Of EPA Green Power Partners, PepsiCo rates number 1 in use of Green Energy (biogas, biomass, geothermal, small-hydro, wind and solar) with 100 percent of its 1.1 billion kilowatt-hours of energy coming from green. Number 2 is wells Fargo (42%). Number 3 is Whole Foods (100%). Number 4 is the U.S. Air Force, although it only accounts for 4 percent of its over 11 billion kilowatt-hour total energy consumption. The rest of the top 25 green power users includes Johnson & Johnson (39%), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (100%), Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts (57%), Starbucks (20%), DuPont Company (4%), U.S. Department of Energy (3%), Vail Resorts (100%), HSBC North America (35%), Cisco Systems, Inc.(21%), Staples (20%), New York University (100%), The World Bank Group (100%), University of Pennsylvania (29%), IBM Corporation (4%), U.S, Department of Veterans Affairs (3%), Nature Works LLC (89%), Sprint Nextel (47%), Safeway Inc. (2%), Pennsylvania State University (20%), Kohl's Department Store (8%) and Nike, Inc. who uses 72 percent green energy. **

**These rankings are determined by purchase of renewable energy credits (RECs) from the EPA, not direct production-consumption. Fossil fuels cost around .07 cents per kilowatt-hour compared to clean energy costs of .08 cents per kilowatt-hour. RECs allow for clean energies to enter the market and the public electric grid without taking a profit loss.


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