The average American spends over 4 hours per day watching television.  If you add the time that the average American watches other electronic screens like computers and cell phones, the total is 8.5 hours per day. 

Mainly due to the addition of clean air restrictions, the average American lifespan has recently risen to over 78.  That means that with current trends, the average American born today will die having spent the equivalent of over 28 years of his or her life watching electronic screens.  And being that the equivalent of over 28 years is also spent sleeping, the average American born today will spend the equivalent of only 22 years of his or her 78 year life doing things other than sleeping and watching electronic screens. 

Keep in mind that the average American born today will spend the equivalent of 6.5 years eating and drinking; though many will do this during their 28 years watching electronic screens of one sort or another. 

*     *     *
The average American household has 2 automobiles and the average American adult spends 1.5 hours a day in their cars.  That is nearly a total of 23 days per year spent driving.

Americans spend a total of around 3.7 billion hours in traffic delays.  That comes to about 17 hours per year for the average American adult.  Moreover, in 51 cities across the country, the average motorist is stuck in traffic for over 20 hours per year with other cities having averages as high as 90 hours like those living in Los Angeles. 

While sitting in traffic, American’s waste nearly 2.3 billion gallons of fuel per year.  At 2 US Dollars per gallon, that means that 4.6 billion US Dollars a year are wasted due to traffic delays.  That would pay for nearly 10 percent of President Obama’s proposed health care plan.  Curious enough, it was also discovered that one is 3 times more likely to suffer a heart attack after sitting through traffic delays. 

By 2020, worldwide traffic injuries are expected to reach the third most common cause of death.  In China, traffic injuries account for nearly 75,000 deaths per year and are already the primary cause of death for people under the age of 45.  For the USA, with a population one-fifth the size of China’s, 40,000 people die each year from traffic injuries.

*     *     *
American’s log over 2 trillion cell phone minutes per year.  That means that the average American spends a total of nearly 4.5 days per year talking on a cell phone.

*     *     *
Where did the time go for the theoretical 78 year old? 
- 28 years watching electronic screens
- 28 years sleeping
- 6.5 years eating and drinking
- 4.5 years driving
- 1 year talking on a cell phone
= 10 years

That means that the average American spends only 3 hours per day awake, not eating or drinking, and away from the aforementioned modern conveniences. 


Sources:

Stetler, Brian.  8 Hours a Day Spent on Screens, Study Finds.  The New York Times.  March 26, 2009.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/27/business/media/27adco.html?_r=1.

Hamrick, Ket, Karen Hopkins and David McClelland.  How Much Time do Americans Spend Eating.  Entrepreneur.  December, 2008.
http://www.entrepreneur.com/tradejournals/article/190462486.html.

Total Population—Life Expectancy.  Nation Master.  May, 2009.
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/hea_lif_exp_at_bir_tot_pop-life-expectancy-birth-total-population.

Road Traffic Deaths in China Have Soared Almost 100 Percent in 20 Years.  Science Daily.  June, 2008.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080604194701.htm.

Copeland, Larry.  Traffic Deaths Down in 42 States.  USA Today.  February, 2009.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-02-04-traffic-deaths_N.htm.

Holguin, Jaime.  Gridlock Driving Up Wasted Time.  CBS News.  May, 2005.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/05/09/national/main693952.shtml.

O’Connor, Anahad.  Heart Attack Risk Linked to Time Spent in Traffic.  The New York Times.  October 26, 2004. 
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9803E4DC173DF935A15753C1A9629C8B63&sec=health

Nearly 70 percent of world-wide water consumption goes to agriculture while 20 percent goes to industry and 10 percent to home use.  

*     *     *
At present, 1 in 3 people on the planet are facing water shortages.  And it is estimated that by 2030, water demands will grow by 1 fourth.  By that year, nearly 50 percent of the world’s population will be facing severe water shortages.  

The United Nations estimates that it would require an additional $30 billion per year to provide clean and safe drinking water to every human on the planet.  In 2007, humans spent more than 3 times that on bottled water.  The US Government’s $787 billion stimulus package would be enough to provide clean and safe drinking water to all of the planet’s human occupants for over 26 years. 

It has been proven over and again that buying a small home filtration device for as low as $13 can provide tap water that is as clean and safe, and often cleaner and safer, than bottled water—even those from Fiji and France.  Instead, water has been privatized and is now a $400 billion industry, making it the third largest industry behind electricity and oil. 

US Americans consumed over 30 billion plastic bottles in 2005.  That is close to 1000 per second.  Only 12 percent of those petroleum-based bottles are recycled.  Nearly 50 million barrels of oil are used by plastic bottle producers each year.  That is enough oil to fill 3,200 Olympic-sized swimming pools.  One small, inexpensive home filtration device can provide nearly 200 liters of clean, healthy water before the filtration cartridge needs changing.  Therefore, using one filtration cartridge can prevent 400 small plastic bottles from entering production. 

Tap water from home filtration devices costs nearly 4 cents per liter.  A 1-liter bottle of Fiji water costs $3.20.  That is a difference of 8,000 percent.  The environmental consequences are also quite severe as the Fiji production plant runs on diesel fuel 24 hours a day.  The plastic bottles themselves make the nearly 10,000 kilometer journey from China to Fiji before being filled with water and traveling the rest of the way to countries all over the world.  In addition, it is estimated that nearly 7 liters of water is contaminated in the production of each 1-liter plastic bottle.  And it is calculated that each 1-liter bottles of Fiji purchased in the US is responsible for 1/4 of a kilogram of greenhouse gas emissions. 

*     *     *
The average American food product travels 2,400 kilometers before consumption.  That is nearly the distance it would require to have my grandmother in Rochester, New York send some of her delicious vegetable soup to my parents in Denver, Colorado. 

Over 17 percent of all energy consumption goes to agriculture, with 1 fourth of that energy going to the production, distribution, and consumption of fertilizer.  In addition, US Americans consume nearly 475 million kilograms of petroleum-based pesticides per year.  That is close to 1.6 kilos, or one 2-liter soda bottle, per person per year. 

US Americans average 20.6 million barrels of oil per day.  It is estimated that if all US Americans ate one local-grown, organic meal per day, it would save over 1.1 million barrels of oil daily.  At $44.76 per barrel, that could save Americans over $18 billion per year. 


Sources:

Kingsolver, Barbara, Camille Kingsolver and Steven L. Hopp.  Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life.  New York: Harper Perennial, 2008.

Pollan, Michael.  In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto.  New York: Penguin, 2009. 

Flow: For Love of Water.  Dir. Irena Salina.  The Group Entertainment, 2008.
Getting Off the Bottle.  Simple Not Easy.  November 23, 2008.
http://suresimple.blogspot.com/2008/11/getting-off-bottle.html.

Herbst, Moira.  Water Scarcity: Hidden Risks to Business.  Business Week.  February 26, 2009.
http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/feb2009/db20090226_538819.htm?chan=top+news_top+news+index+-+temp_news+%2B+analysis

Trees on Tap.  Nature Inc.  BBC.  2008.
http://www.natureinc.org/trees.htm

Petroleum Basic Statistics.  Energy Information Administration.  2007.
http://www.eia.doe.gov/basics/quickoil.html

Fiji Water.  Wikipedia.  March, 2009.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIJI_Water

An estimated 79 percent of occupied housing units have clothes dryers.  Dryers vary between 1800 and 5000 watts and are estimated to account for 10-15 percent of the average American household electric bill.  Choosing to hang dry your clothes instead of using the dryer can increase the life of your clothes up to 4 times and can save up to 2220 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions per year. 

*     *     *
Close to 90 percent of energy used in laundry machines goes to heating water.  Therefore, washing clothes in cold water not only preserves the life of clothes, but can save up to $75 per year on household electric bills and close to 90 pounds per month of carbon dioxide emissions.  If all Americans did this, it would be the same as removing 10 million cars from the road.  In addition to their electricity consumption, washing machines also account for approximately 21.7 percent of household water use.

Phosphates are a major cause of water pollution that some claim is responsible for over 40 percent of human and animal disease.  Though phosphates were banned from laundry detergents in the USA, it is still possible to buy boxes of Tide in certain states with as much as 10 percent phosphorus.  In the developing world, phosphates make up as much as 35 percent of laundry detergents; and runoff from these pollutants are responsible for the algae blooms that are suffocating our oceans, lakes and rivers.     

China’s home appliance giant, Haier, has just released the WasH2O washing machine for about $957.  It is the first washing machine of its kind that not only cuts water use by over 50 percent and electricity use by up to 60 percent; but it also eliminates the need for laundry detergent by breaking apart water molecules, thus activating the OH- ions to attract and retain stains and oils. 

According to the US Department of Energy, the average American does 148 loads of laundry per year.  One 100 ounce bottle of Tide liquid detergent can wash 32 loads and costs $15.10.  Therefore it would take almost 5 bottles of Tide per year per person to wash 1 year’s worth of clothes.  So every American would save enough money from not using laundry detergent to buy a brand new WasH2O washing machine every 13 years or so.  However, being that the American household averages 2.64 people and 1 laundry machine, the average household would save enough in laundry detergent expenses to pay off the WasH2O every 5 years. 

*     *     *
Nearly all dishwashing detergents have phosphates, though some states are trying to reduce the legal amount of phosphates to 0.5 percent.

In one day, I use an average of 3 plates, 1 bowl, 4 pieces of silverware, 4 glasses, 1 pan, 1 pot, and 2 cooking utensils.  For each piece it takes me an average of 4 seconds to rinse and put into the dishwashing machine.  So on average, I spend about 1 minute and 4 seconds per day preparing eating utensils for the dishwashing machine.  I run an average of 1 load of dishes every week.  Putting soap in and running the machine takes me about 7 seconds, thus adding 1 second to my average day of dish duty. 

If I rinse every dish and eating utensil, wash with soap by hand, rinse again, and put on the drying rack, my time spent per dish and eating utensil rises from 4 seconds to 8 seconds.  So now it takes me 2 minutes and 8 seconds every day to wash my dishes, costing me 1 minute and 3 seconds more per day than using a dishwashing machine.  That is just over 6 hours per year. 

If the average American washed their dishes by hand, they would save close to $40 per year.  Being that it takes about 6 hours per year extra to wash dishes by hand, then it is the same as getting paid $6.66 per hour for your labor.  In addition, the average electric dishwasher costs about $400.  If the average machine lasts ten years, then washing your dishes without a dishwasher saves you an extra $40 per year that would have been spent on a dishwasher.  You just got a 100 percent raise. 


Sources:

How to Green Your Dirty Laundry.  Greener Penny.  August 24, 2008.
http://greenerpenny.blogspot.com/2008/08/how-to-green-your-dirty-laundry.html.

Haier WasH2O Innovative Washing Machine.  Product Reviews.  September, 2008.
http://www.product-reviews.net/2007/08/01/haier-wash20-innovative-washing-machine-no-detergent-or-soap-needed/.

Knud-Hansen.  Historical Perspective of the Phosphate Detergent Conflict.  Conflict Research Consortium, University of Colorado.  February, 1994.
http://www.colorado.edu/conflict/full_text_search/AllCRCDocs/94-54.htm.

Phosphorus Pollution.  State Environmental Resource Center.  October, 2008.
http://www.serconline.org/phosphorus/background.html.

Detergents Under Scrutiny.  India Together.  October 4, 2008.
http://www.indiatogether.org/environment/articles/tlink-1002.htm.

Project Laundry List.  September, 2008.
http://www.laundrylist.org/index.php/faq/35-general-laundry-questions/101-kwh-year-dryer-average.

Carbon Conscious Consumer.  September, 2008.
http://c3.newdream.org/.

Hodum, Ryan.  Kunming Heats Up as China’s “Solar City.”  World Watch.  June 5, 2007.
http://www.worldwatch.org/node/5105.

Corn, a species of domesticated grass, covers a total area in the USA roughly 2 times the size of New York State.    In the USA, it typically costs roughly 2.5 dollars to grow 1 bushel of corn that sells for 1.45 dollars.  The deficit of 1.05 dollars plus profits is paid for with government subsidies.

More than 40 percent of the world’s corn is grown in the USA, and more than 50 percent of the corn grown in the USA has been genetically modified.  Moreover, when you add together fertilizers, pesticides, production and transportation, it takes more than 1 calorie of fossil fuel energy to produce 1 calorie of processable corn.  In fact, 1 fifth of America’s petroleum consumption goes to the production and transportation of food. 

*     *     *
It is estimated that this year’s corn harvest in the USA will amount to roughly 12.3 billion bushels.  There are about 90 ears of corn in the average bushel.  That means that this years harvest will result in approximately 1.1 trillion ears of corn.  That is enough to supply every American with 10 ears of corn every day for a year.

Eating the kernels off of one ear of corn accounts for the intake of roughly 132 calories. 

The recommended daily calorie intake varies between 1800 and 3000 depending upon height, weight, and activeness.  So if the average recommended calorie intake is around 2400 calories per day, it would take about 18 ears of corn each day to have sufficient energy. 

Livestock in America consumes 60 percent of America’s corn.  That means that every year, 660 billion ears of corn go to cows, pigs, chickens, sheep, catfish, and—thanks to some genetic engineering—even salmon.  If 18 ears of corn can sustain a human’s necessary calorie intake for a day, then the corn consumed by livestock alone could support 100 million people per year.  In other words, American livestock eat enough corn to sustain 1.5 percent of the world’s total human population.

It takes roughly 10 pounds of corn to grow 1 pound of beef.  Because of the fact that cows cannot naturally digest corn, 70 percent of America’s total antibiotics go to fighting stomach ulcers and other diseases in cattle.  Moreover, if you total the amount of petroleum used to grow and transport the corn consumed by 1 cow from birth to the time of its slaughter, it will have consumed over 1 barrel of petroleum.

The waste from 1 cow is equivalent to that of 17 humans.  There are roughly100 million cattle in the USA.  That means that the waste from the American cattle population accounts for nearly 6 times that of the American human population.  And on top of that, cattle account for roughly 26 percent of all methane emissions in the USA.  That is just under that of landfills at 34 percent, and over that of natural gas and oil systems at 22%. 

Since the world’s cattle population is near 1.3 billion, there is over 3 times more cow feces added to the planet daily than human feces. 

*     *     *
About 20 percent of corn is processed as ethanol.  That is expected to rise to above 30 percent by 2015. 

About 10 percent of corn grown in the USA is processed into corn syrup.  Corn syrup is about 20 percent cheaper than other sources of sugar.  In 30 years, the demand for corn syrup has grown by 30 percent while the demand for sugar has dropped. 

Americans consume an average of 42 pounds of high fructose corn syrup each per year, which is a great contribution to the nation’s obesity crisis.  Over 70 percent of corn syrup ends up as a beverage sweetener. 

Last year, 139 million gallons of soda were consumed in Brooklyn, New York.  There are about 2.5 million people in Brooklyn, NY; which means that Brooklyners average about 56 gallons of soda each per year, or 1.5 cans of soda per day.  1 sweetened soda per day doubles the amount of risk for diabetes.  It is a fact that1 in 8 New Yorkers now has diabetes. 



Sources:

Cheney, Ian and Curtis Ellis.  King Corn. Dir. Aaron Woolf.  2007

Pollan, Michael.  The Omnivore’s Dilemma.  New York: The Penguin Press, 2006.

Yousfi, Jennifer.  Corn Price Report.  Money Morning.  August, 2008.  http://www.moneymorning.com/money-morning-corn-price-report/.

Mangino, Joe.  US EPA Cattle Enteric Fermentation Model (CEFM).  Environmental Protection Agency.  April 30, 2003.
http://www.epa.gov/ttn/chief/conference/ei12/green/present/mangino.pdf.

Maize.  Wikipedia.  August, 2008.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maize.

Voiland, Adam.  Health Reasons to Cut Back on Corn Consumption.  US News and World Report.  December 17, 2007.
http://www.usnews.com/articles/news/50-ways-to-improve-your-life/2007/12/17/health-reasons-to-cut-back-on-corn-consumption.html. 

As much as 80% of life on Earth lives in the ocean.  Close to 30% of seafood species consumed by humans have already gone extinct or are on the brink of extinction. 

*     *     *
It is estimated that up to 70% of the oxygen we breathe comes from phytoplankton.  Phytoplankton are microscopic plants that bloom in clusters throughout the ocean and are responsible for absorbing close to 50% of human-caused carbon dioxide emissions via photosynthesis.  By trapping the carbon and then sinking to the bottom of the ocean, planktons absorb about 2 billion tons of carbon annually.  Increased rates of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere have caused plankton blooms to turn the oceans more acidic and lowered the productivity of plankton by 9% globally.  The carbon dioxide in our atmosphere is presently at 384 parts per million, up from 280 a century and a half ago.  That number would quickly surpass 500 with the demise of planktons. 

Only 1 percent of the ocean floor is coral reef.  Yet coral reefs support up to 1 third of the ocean’s marine life; and close to 1 sixth of the world’s humans depend upon the reefs for their livelihood.  When the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere reaches 450 to 500 parts per million the oceans will become too acidic to support corals. 

*     *     *
Of all the plastic ever made in the world, 100 percent is still in existence as it takes over 100 years to decompose.  About 10 percent of plastic ever produced makes its way into the ocean; and therefore, every square mile of ocean contains an average of 46,000 pieces of plastic debris.  In the Pacific Ocean, there is an island of plastic roughly 2 times the size of the United States of America.  Plastic in the oceans is responsible for up to 1 million bird deaths, 100,000 marine mammal deaths, and an uncountable number of other sea creature deaths per year.

*     *     *
Of ocean fish caught by commercial fisherman, about 25% is of unwanted size or species and therefore tossed back into the ocean.  It is estimated that somewhere between 64 and 88 billion pounds of this by-catch is wasted every year.  This by-catch amounts to enough to give every US American nearly 1 pound of fish per day. 

*     *     *
Sharks have been around for 400 million years, long before the dinosaurs.  However, their populations have declined by 90% over the past 50 years.  The act of shark finning, removing only the shark’s fins then throwing the body back into the ocean, is responsible for as many as 100 million shark deaths per year.  Shark fins can sell for as much as 600 dollars each, averaging about 200 dollars per pound, and is therefore a 1 billion dollar per year industry.  With the average weight per shark being around 80 pounds, and the average weight of the fins being about 2 pounds, there is as much as 7.8 billion pounds of dead and dying shark thrown into the ocean every year.  Considering 30 percent of the shark to be edible meat, close to 6.5 million pounds of shark meat is wasted every day.  That is enough meat to give every 1 of the average 4 million people who starve to death each year over 1.5 pounds of meat per day. 

*     *     *
In the 1970s, 40,000 metric tons of orange roughy were caught per year before realizing that the animals live up to as long as 150 years old and had already been fished to the brink of extinction.  This fact aside, the US continues to import 19 million pounds of the fish each year.    

Farmed salmon contain as much as 10 times more toxins than wild salmon and have about 60% more fat compared to their wild counterparts.  As much as 3.5 pounds of wild fish are caught to feed 1 pound of farmed salmon—but work is being done on salmon DNA to adapt them to digest corn. 

For every pound of shrimp caught, it is estimated that 4 lbs of other species are destroyed. 

Lobsters can live up to 70 years and weigh as much as 30 lbs.  But due to over-fishing, most lobsters are now caught at about 6 years old and 2 pounds. 

Red Snapper can grow up to 35 pounds, but now is rarely found above 10 pounds.

Cod can grow up to 220 pounds, but now is rarely found above 20 pounds.

Swordfish can reach up to 1400 pounds, but now the average catch is about 100 pounds.


Sources:                          

Gibson, Barry.  Ridding Us of the Plastic Bag Plight.  The Huddersfield Examiner.  May 21, 2008.
http://www.examiner.co.uk/views-and-blogs/columnists/barry-gibson/2008/05/21/ridding-us-of-the-plastic-bag-blight-86081-20939658/

Keeping the Coast Clean.  Charleston Post and Courier.  May 19, 2008.
http://www.charleston.net/news/2008/may/19/keeping_coast_clean41374/.

Suzuki, David.  Don’t Drink Water From Plastic.  The Niagara Falls Review.  May 23, 2008.
http://www.niagarafallsreview.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1035387.

U.S. Annual Average of Animal-Related Fatalities During the 1990s.  Florida Museum of Natural History.  May 23, 2008.
http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/sharks/attacks/relariskanimal.htm.

Sharkwater to Challenge Jaws Stereotype.  The West Australian.  May 9, 2008.
http://www.thewest.com.au/default.aspx?MenuID=23&ContentID=72049.

Hayden, Thomas.  Fished Out.  U.S. News and World Report.  May 18, 2008.
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/culture/articles/030609/9oceans_4.htm.

Orange Roughy.  Wikipedia.  May 18, 2008.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orange_roughy.

The Amazing Disappearing Seafood Dinner!  What Can One Person Do?  August 22, 2007.
http://www.whatcanonepersondo.com/blog/index.php?/archives/46-The-Amazing-Disappearing-Seafood-Dinner!.html.

Whitty, Julia.  Oceans of the World in Extreme Danger.  World Prout Assembly.  April, 2006. 
http://www.worldproutassembly.org/archives/2006/09/_oceans_of_the.html.

SavingSharks.Com.  May 20, 2008.
http://www.savingsharks.com.

Stop Shark Finning. May 23, 2008.
www.sharkfinning.net.

Human-Elephant Conflict.  ElephantCare.Org.  May 23, 2008.
http://www.elephantcare.org/humanele.htm#Humans%20killed.

Perlman, David.  Decline in Ocean’s Phytoplankton Alarms Scientists.  San Francisco Chronicle.  October 6, 2003.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2003/10/06/MN31432.DTL.

Roach, Jon.  Seafood May Be Gone by 2048, Study Says.  National Geographic.  November 2, 2006.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/11/061102-seafood-threat.html.

Roach, Jon.  Growing Ocean Acidity May Erode Coastal Ecosystems.  National Geographic.  May 22, 2008. 
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/05/080522-acid-oceans.html.

Milius, Susan.  Ocean Reflux.  Science News.  May 22, 2008.
http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/32458/title/Ocean_reflux.

Leahy, Stephan.  Biodiversity: The Twilight Age of Coral Reefs.  Inter Press Service News Agency.  May 22, 2008.
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=42464.

STONE:
The world produces about 2.1 billion metric tons of cement every year and is the second most widely used substance on the planet after water.  The amount of cement produced yearly weighs more than 5 times the cumulative weight of the entire living human population on the planet. 

Cement starts out as limestone and clay which is pulverized and heated (usually via coal combustion) in kilns to 1,500 degrees Celsius.  This process alone is responsible for 5% of global carbon dioxide emissions.  It is estimated that total global carbon dioxide emissions are approaching 27 billion metric tons per year.  Therefore, cement production is responsible for approximately 1.35 billion metric tons yearly.  Moreover, that means that each metric ton of cement produced emits approximately 640 kilograms of carbon dioxide.   

China’s consumption of concrete accounts for nearly 45% of the world’s total consumption.  Roughly 14% of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions come from China.  And due to China’s use of cheap, outdated kilns, the country’s cement plants are responsible for up to 8% of its total carbon dioxide output.  In addition, cement production facilities in China are responsible for over 40% of the country’s total industrial particulate emissions. 

Recycling concrete from demolition sites by pulverizing it and adding it to new cement can save transportation costs for removal by as much as 25 cents per ton per mile and landfill disposal costs as high as $100 per ton.  

STEEL:
There was 1.3 billion metric tons of crude steel produced in 2007.  That is more than 3 times the cumulative weight of the entire living human population on the planet.  World steel production results in about 5% (1.35 billion metric tons) of the world’s yearly carbon dioxide emissions.  That means that each ton of steel produced is responsible for over 1 ton of carbon dioxide.

China is responsible for about 34% of the world’s crude steel production and 47% of pig iron (raw iron) production. 

About 75% of production energy is saved by recycling steel rather than refining from iron ore.  Moreover, recycling one metric ton of steel saves about 1,100 kilograms of iron ore, 630 kilograms of coal, and 55 kilograms of limestone.  Steel has long been the most recycled material on the planet, and in fact, nearly 95% of structural steel is of recycled origin. 


WOOD:
Rainforest depletion accounts for 20 percent of the world's total carbon dioxide emissions.  This is because 5.4 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide would have been photosynthesized into oxygen if those forests still existed.
 

Sources:                            
China to Dominate Cement Use in 2007.  Concrete Monthly.  January, 2007.
http://www.concretemonthly.com/monthly/art.php?2596.

Cho, Jung Myung and Suzanne Giannini-Spohn.  A China Environmental Health Research Brief: Environmental and Health Threats from Cement Production in China.  Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.  August 30, 2007.
http://www.wilsoncenter.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=news.print&news_id=274782&stoplayout=true.

Choi, Charles Q.  Concrete Proposal to Cut Carbon Dioxide Emissions.  Live Science.  January 29, 2007.
http://www.livescience.com/environment/070129_clean_concrete.html.

Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate: Steel Task Force Summary of Action Plan and Projects.  U.S. Department of State.  October 31, 2006.
http://www.state.gov/g/oes/rls/fs/2006/75371.htm.

International Energy Outlook 2007.  Energy Information Administration.  May, 2008.
http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/ieo/emissions.html.

Recycling Concrete.  Concrete Network.  March, 2007.
http://www.concretenetwork.com/concrete/demolition/recycling_concrete.htm.

World Steel Review.  ISSB.  February, 2008.
http://www.steelonthenet.com/ISSB/Review-02-08.pdf.

Iron and Steel.  U.S. Geological Survey.  January, 2007.
http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/iron_&_steel/festemcs07.pdf.

China Accounts For 33.79% of World’s Crude Steel Output and 46.6% of Pig Iron Output.  Economic Information and Agency.  March 19, 2007.
http://www.tdctrade.com/report/indprof/indprof_070304.htm.

Steel.  Wikipedia.  March, 2007. 
http://anonymouse.org/cgi-bin/anon-www.cgi/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steel.

Price, Lynn, Dian Phylipsen, and Ernst Worrell.  Energy Use and Carbon Dioxide in the Steel Sector in Key Developing Countries.  Energy Analysis Department.  April, 2001.
http://www.osti.gov/bridge/servlets/purl/783473-fcGKaj/webviewable/783473.PDF.

So Hard to See the Wood for the Trees.  The Economist.  December 22, 2007.  Pp. 98.

Concrete Proposals Needed.  The Economist.  December 22, 2007.  Pp. 100.  

Americans spend about 90 percent of their food budget on processed foods.  That is nearly 9 percent of their total income. 

*     *     *
Flamin’ Hot Crunchy Cheese Cheetos =
Corn meal enriched (corn meal, ferrous sulfate, niacin, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid).  Nearly 1/3 of all corn crops in America have been genetically modified. 
+Salt:  High salt intake is a major cause of cardiovascular disease and increases the risks of heart attack and stroke.  One serving size of this packaged food contains 9% of daily sodium intake.
+Sugar:  Promotes obesity, tooth decay, and heart disease in people with high triglycerides. 
+Food starch modified: May contain gluten.  May cause diarrhea in infants.  Most likely genetically modified. 
+Monosodium glutamate (MSG):  Shown to destroy the nerve cells in the brains of laboratory mice.  May cause allergic reactions ranging from migraines, seizures and other nervous system disorders.  Also known for the emissions of toxins made during its production that can pollute ground and drinking water. 
+Yeast extract autolyzed: Often contains MSG .
+Colors artificial include (red 40 lake, yellow 6 lake, yellow 6, yellow 5).  Red 40 lake is an artificial color that many tests have show to be harmful.  It has been banned in Denmark, Belgium, France, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, Austria and Norway.  Yellow 6 has been proven to increase the incidence of tumors of the adrenal gland and kidney in lab animals, and has multiple known carcinogens, and has therefore been banned in Norway.  Yellow 5 is a coal-tar derivative that is reputed to be a catalyst in ADD, asthma, migraines, thyroid cancer, and lupis.
+Soybean oil partially hydrogenated:  Contains trans fatty acids that enter cell membranes, block normal cell function, and cause a rise in blood pressure.
+Cottonseed oil partially hydrogenated:  Contains trans fatty acids that enter cell membranes, block normal cell function, and cause a rise in blood pressure.
+Soy protein hydrolyzed:  Often contains MSG.
+Corn syrup solids:  Considered to be a contributor to obesity.
+Natural flavors:  FDA does not require listing ingredients that fall under the FDA’s list of natural flavors even though some products may contain hundreds of compounds and chemicals and may even include substances that many people have allergies to like MSG or HVP. 
+Disodium inosinate:  May be prepared from meat or sardines.  May trigger gout and is not permitted in foods for infants and young children.
+Disodium guanylate:  May be prepared from yeast or sardines.  May trigger gout and is not permitted in foods for infants and young children.
+Sodium caseinate:  May contain MSG. 
+Other Ingredients Generally Recognized as Safe for Consumption:  maltodextrin, cheese cheddar (milk cultured, salt, enzymes), vegetable oil contains one or more of the following (corn oil, soybean oil (or), sunflower oil), sodium diacetate, disodium phosphate, disodium phosphate, sodium citrate, whey, onion powder, whey protein concentrate, buttermilk solids, garlic powder, lactic acid, milk non-fat solids, carrageenan. 

Diet Mountain Dew =
Carbonated water:  Studies suggest that the rise in esophageal cancer in the US is associated with the rise in consumption of carbonated beverages.  
+Nutrasweet brand of aspartame:  Tests on lab animals have shown a connection between low doses of aspartame and leukemia, lymphoma, and brain tumors.  Lifetime consumption of aspartame is likely carcinogenic and the cause of multiple neurological disorders.  Originally considered unfit for consumption by the FDA, Nutrasweet hired Donald Rumsfeld to pressure the legalization of the product.
+Potassium benzoate:  Known to cause headaches, intestinal upset, hyperactivity in children, and may cause asthmatics to react badly.
+Caffeine:  Increases the risk of miscarriages in pregnant women and inhibits fetal growth.  Consumption of more than 2 servings a day may increase the risk of osteoporosis.   
+Natural flavors:  FDA does not require listing ingredients that fall under the FDA’s list of natural flavors even though some products may contain hundreds of compounds and chemicals and may even include substances that many people have allergies to like MSG or HVP. 
+Brominated vegetable oil:  Leaves small residues in body fat that may be carcinogenic.  Banned in the UK, Canada, and California has declared that baked goods containing more than a certain level of the chemical must bear a cancer warning on the label.
+Yellow 5:  A coal-tar derivative that is reputed to be a catalyst in ADD, asthma, migranes, thyroid cancer, and lupis.
+Other Ingredients Generally Recognized as Safe for Consumption:  Orange juice concentrated, Citric acid, Citrus pectin, Potassium citrate, Gum arabic, Erythorbic acid.

Sources:

Diet Mountain Dew Information.  Food Facts.com.  January, 2008.
http://www.foodfacts.com/members/item_info.cfm?id=23582.

Cheetos Item Information.  Food Facts.com.  January, 2008.
http://www.foodfacts.com/members/item_info.cfm?id=30970.

McDonald’s French Fries Item Information.  Food Facts.com.  January 2008.
http://www.foodfacts.com/members/item_info.cfm?id=5734.

Pizza Hut Ingredient Statements.  Pizza Hut.  January, 2008.
http://www.pizzahut.com/Files/PDF/ph_ingredients.pdf.

Food Additives.  Center for Science in the Public Interest.  January, 2008.
http://www.cspinet.org/reports/chemcuisine.htm.

Rumsfeld Nutrasweet Folleys Now Hurt US Troops.  Mercola.com.  December 10, 2004.
http://www.mercola.com/blog/2004/dec/10/rumsfeld_nutrasweet_folleys_now_hurt_us_troops.

Americans Spend Less Than 10 Percent of Disposable Income on Food.  Salem-News.com.  February 3, 2008.
http://salem-news.com/articles/july192006/food_prices_71906.php.

Schlosser, Eric.  Fast Food Nation.  New York: Perrenial, 2002.

It’s time for environmentalists to take an interest in economics; and for economists to take an interest in the environment.

This year alone, Americans will throw away over 100 billion plastic bags.  Nearly all plastic bags are made from polyethylene (a petroleum bi-product) and to make 100 billion plastic bags takes nearly 12 million barrels of oil.  12 million barrels of oil can be refined to nearly 240 million gallons of gasoline.  And polyethylene bags take nearly 1000 years to break down into their toxic components.  According to the United Nations Environment Programme, there is an average of 46,000 pieces of plastic litter floating in every square mile of ocean on the planet.  Paper bags take over 4 times as much energy to produce as plastic bags and require about 85 times as much energy to recycle. 

At a cost of over 1 penny per bag, Americans are wasting over $1 billion dollars per year.  Buying reusable shopping bags eliminates this economic and environmental calamity with a one-time cost of anywhere from $2 for cheap bags to designer bags costing as much as $900 dollars.  PlanetFlahive.com is selling hemp shopping bags for $18.  Hemp produces about 3 times as much fiber per acre as cotton without the use of pesticides; and while cotton is known for stripping the land of nutrients, hemp naturally fertilizes the soil for future crops.  In addition, the cultivation of hemp takes about 100 days whereas cotton trees take between 50 and 70 years to reach full maturity. 

Using trash cans unlined with plastic bags take only 1 minute to wash out after dumping!

*     *     *
Salvador’s Coffee House in southwest China uses 38, 30-watt incandescent light bulbs in its daily operations.  These light bulbs cost about 1 RMB ($.13) each and last for an average of 3 weeks.  5 of the 38 lights are on for an average of 5 hours, using about 750 watt-hours per day.  The other 33 lights are on for an average of 16 hours, using about 15,840 watt-hours per day.  So in total, these lights use about 16,590 watt-hours, or 16.59 kilowatt-hours (kWh), per day.  At .63 RMB per kWh, lighting the 38 bulbs costs about 10.5 RMB per day, 314 RMB per month, 3,800 RMB ($506) per year.  5-watt compact florescent lights (CFLs) cost about 10 RMB ($1.33) each, can last as long as 7 years, and can replace the 38 incandescent bulbs producing nearly the same luminescence and quality of light.  By doing so, the daily electricity consumed by these 38 bulbs is cut down to about 2.77 kWh per day, cutting the daily costs down to 1.74 RMB.  This saves our business 3,165 RMB ($422) per year. 

According to the American Lighting Association, lights account for 25 percent of household electric bills.  This year, Ireland became the 1st country in history to pass legislation banning the normal incandescent light bulb, thus promoting the longer-lasting, energy-efficient fluorescents. 

*     *     *
Starbucks goes through over 2.3 billion paper cups per year.  The average paper cup with lid, graphics, and stirrer comes to about $0.15 per cup.  For those who drink a cup a day, they will burn through over $50 per year on non-biodegradable waste.  In 2003, Starbucks began offering a 10 cent discount to those who bring their own mugs or take-away reusable cups.  This encouraged about 13.5 million customers to bring in their own mugs, thus saving about 586,800 pounds of paper from going to US landfills.  Starbucks could save an estimated $1 million per year in packaging costs by encouraging the use of reusable cups and plates. 

*     *     *
The average bite of food in America has traveled nearly 1,500 miles.  Most foods are transported in semi-tractor trailers that have a maximum capacity of 40,000 pounds according to US law.  40,000 pounds of food is 640,000 bites assuming 1 bite to be equivalent to 1 ounce.  A semi-tractor trailer gets an average of about 5.5 miles per gallon, fully loaded.  Traveling 1,500 miles at full capacity would burn about 272 gallons of diesel (roughly 34,900 ounces).  So that means that every 18 bites of food are chased down with a shot of diesel.  At 3.3 dollars per gallon of diesel, shopping locally can save American consumers about 1 penny for every 7 bites. 

*     *     *
In a small town in Sicily, refuse disposal has recently shifted from small garbage trucks, which cost around $150,000, to donkey-carts, which cost $1,000.   Whereas operational costs for the trucks cost around $12,000 per year, it only costs $3,000 per year to feed the donkey.  To equal the amount of exhaust created from 1 garbage truck, 1 donkey would have to have some serious digestive issues.


Sources:

McKibben, Bill.  Carbon’s New Math.  National Geographic.  October, 2007.  Pp. 33-37.

BBC News.  December 7.

Flahive, Colin.  Issue 2 – The Tickle Me Elmo Equation.  Simple Mathematics.  December, 2006.  www.simple-mathematics.com.

Weekly Retail On-Highway Diesel Prices.  Energy Information Administration.  December 17, 2007.
http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/oog/info/wohdp/diesel.asp.

The Throwaway Generation: 25 Billion Styrofoam Cups a Year.  The Environmental Magazine.  November-December, 2005.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1594/is_6_16/ai_n15895175.

How Much Do Compact Fluorescent Bulbs Really Cost?  Get Rich Slowly.  October 29, 2007.
http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2007/10/29/how-much-do-compact-fluorescent-bulbs-really-cost/.

Plastic Bags, the Convenient Sack That Never Goes Away.  Practical Environmentalist.  August 10, 2007.
http://www.practicalenvironmentalist.com/anti-conservation/plastic-bags-the-convenient-sack-that-never-goes-away.htm.

Drowning in a Sea of Plastic Bags.  School of Natural Resources and Environment.  Fall, 2007.
http://snre.ufl.edu/Pubs&Event/Source/fall07/plastic.html.

Our View on the Environment: Plastic-Bag Ban Full of Holes.  USA Today.  April 7, 2007.
http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2007/04/post_1.html.

www.planetflahive.com.

A study by the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention revealed that of 2.4 billion drugs prescribed to patients in 2005, 118 million were antidepressants.  That makes it the number 1 prescribed drug in the USA followed secondly by high blood pressure drugs with 113 million prescriptions.  So nearly 10% of all prescribed drugs in the USA are meant for the treatment of overweight and unhappy people. 

*     *     *
According to a 2000 report by the World Health Organization, the USA ranks 37th of 191 WHO member nations for quality of health care.  That is well behind all Western European countries as well as Canada and only 2 ahead of Cuba, countries that all have universal health care plans.  Meanwhile, the United States remains the sole profit-oriented health care system among western industrialized nations with an average of 55.1% of health care coming from private expenditures.  That ranking is in the company of other nations like Chad at 58.1%, El Salvador at 55.3%, Uzbekistan at 54.5%, and Syria at 54.2%. 

An average of $5,274 per US American per year is spent on health care (other estimates reach as high as $7,129).  All countries with universal health care programs, other than Monaco, spend less than $3500 per person per year (which includes out of pocket tax money that goes to the governmental health care programs.)  Switzerland tops the list at $3,446.  Canada is at $2,931.  And Cuba is all the way down at $236—impressive for a country that offers free universal health care to all citizens regardless of income, has an infant mortality rate slightly lower and a life expectancy slightly higher than the USA, and yet is only 2 countries behind the USA on the WHO’s rankings for quality of health care. 

Because government spending already accounts for 44.9% of health care spending in the USA, $2,906 is left for the people to cover on their own.  So, in essence, the government is still short $872 billion for a comprehensive health care plan that would cover all US citizens regardless of pre-existing conditions and severity of illness or injury. 

If US American’s could cut medical spending to the same rates as Canada, it would save the people $703 billion per year, only $169 billion short of what would be needed for the government to support a universal health care program.  In 2006, the top 9 US drug companies acquired $220.5 billion in revenue with estimated profit margins between 15 and 20 percent, or between $30 billion and $40 billion.  Health insurance companies had revenues close to $287 billion with a profit margin of 3.9 percent, or $11 billion. 

The White House’s 2006 defense budget was $419.3 billion, close to 20% of the total US federal budget.  About $9 billion has been spent per month in Iraq resulting in the elimination of over 74,500 humans who will no longer need health care.

*     *     *
China’s rural population numbers nearly 900 million.  Only about 7 percent of rural residents have insurance, while urbanites number over 50 percent.  That means that only 263 million of China’s estimated 1.3 billion have health insurance. 

With the dismantling of China’s commune system in 1978, China began its move from public to private, profit-oriented health care which favored the rich urban areas with quality health care while leaving the rural population behind.  By 1999, local governments began to enforce regulations on the growing profit margins for routine checkups and surgeries.  However, hospitals were allowed profit margins of 15 percent and greater for experimental drugs and treatments, thus doctors often administered unnecessary expensive and experimental drugs and treatments to increase hospital profits.  Today these issues have been intensified by experimental drug companies offering doctors monetary incentives to sell their drugs in addition to the fact that nearly 1/3 of drugs administered in rural areas are counterfeit. 

Yearly income among China’s rural residents is estimated at about $316 per person.  Per capita spending on health care is $261 per person, or 83 percent of their income, so that combined with corruption among rural hospitals and the fact that most good doctors follow the money to the cities, most will avoid seeking medical help even for the most serious of diseases or injuries.  The outcome is that China has and infant mortality rate about 4 times greater than the USA and an average life span about 5 years shorter.

*     *     *
China Life, China’s primary life insurance company, has grown to be the number 2 largest insurance company in the world with a market value of $129 billion.


Sources:

Profit Margin on Medicare Business Up in 2006 as Commercial Business Declines.  TheStreet.com.  August 14, 2007.
http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=65508&p=IROL-SingleRelease&t=Regular&id=1040226&.

Blumenthal, David, M.D., M.P.P., and William Hsiao, Ph.D.  Privatization and Its Discontents – The Evolving Chinese Health Care System.  The New England Journal of Medicine.  http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/353/11/1165.

Sullivan, Martin A.  Economic Analysis: Drug Firms Move Profits to Save Billions.  Tax Analysts.  August 29, 2007.
http://www.taxanalysts.com/www/features.nsf/Articles/5FED9F07CCD44CEA852571D30051D2B5?OpenDocument.

Department of Defense 2006 Discretionary Budget.  Executive Office of the President of the United States.  August, 2007.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2006/defense.html.

French, Howard, W.  Wealth Grows, but Health Care Withers in China.  New York Times.  January 14, 2006.  http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/14/international/asia/14health.html?ex=1294894800&en=d0cb13755ea14446&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss.

Appleby, Julie.  Consumer Unease With U.S. Health Care Grows.  USA Today.  October 16, 2006.
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/health/2006-10-15-health-concern-usat_x.htm.

Fortune Global 500.  CNN Money.  August, 2007
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/global500/2007/industries/223/1.html.

North America—USA—Health Statistics.  Asia—China—Health Statistics.  Health Statistics—Obesity by Country.  Nation Master.  April, 2007.
http://www.nationmaster.com/red/country/ch-china/hea-health&all=1.
http://www.nationmaster.com/red/country/us-united-states/hea-health&all=1.

Per Capita Total Expenditure on Health in International Dollars.  Nation Master.  August, 2007.
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/hea_per_cap_tot_exp_on_hea_in_int_dol-capita-total-expenditure-international-dollars
Private Expenditure on Health as % of Total Expenditure on Health.  Nation Master.  August, 2007.
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/hea_pri_exp_on_hea_as_of_tot_exp_on_hea-health-private-expenditure-total.

World Health Organization Assesses the World’s Health Systems.  World Health Organization.  June 21, 2000.
http://www.who.int/inf-pr-2000/en/pr2000-44.html.

Cohen, Robin, Ph.D., Michael E. Martinez, M.P.H.  Health Insurance Coverage: Early Release of Estimates From the National Health Interview Survey, 2006.  Center for Disease Control.  August 21, 2007.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nhis/earlyrelease/insur200706.pdf.

Cohen, Elizabeth.  CDC: Antidepressants Most Prescribed Drugs in U.S.  CNN.  July 9, 2007.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/07/09/antidepressants/index.html?eref=rss_topstories.

China Life Insurance Comapany.  Wikipedia.  August, 2007.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China_life.

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.) 

*     *     *
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.


Sources:

UMD Energy.  What are RECs?  May, 2007
http://www.umdenergy.org/?page_id=12.

Monohan, Patricia and David Friedman, UCS.  Grinning Planet.  Diesel or Gasoline?  May, 2007.
http://www.grinningplanet.com/2005/04-12/diesel-vs-gasoline-article.htm.

McElroy, Michael B.  Harvard Magazine.  The Ethanol Illusion.  Nov.-Dec., 2006. 
http://harvardmagazine.com/on-line/110634.html.

Radich, Anthony.  Energy Information Administration.  Biodiesel Performance, Costs and Use.  May, 2007.
http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/analysispaper/biodiesel/index.html.

Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum.  An Energy Summary of the USA.  May, 2007.
http://www.cslforum.org/usa.htm.

Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum.  An Energy Summary of China.  May, 2007.
http://www.cslforum.org/china.htm.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.  Emission Facts: Greenhouse Gas Emissions From a Typical Passenger Vehicle.  February, 2005.
http://www.epa.gov/otaq/climate/420f05004.htm.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.  Average Carbon Dioxide Emissions Resulting From Gasoline and Diesel Fuel.  February, 2005. 
http://www.epa.gov/otaq/climate/420f05001.htm.

CarJunky.com.  Motorcycles: A Fuel-Efficient Alternative.  March 4, 2007.
http://news.carjunky.com/motorcycles-a-fuel-efficient-alternative-cde041.shtml.

My Drive.  A Diesel Honda?  That Gets 62.8 Miles a Gallon. April 30, 2007.
http://mydrive.roadfly.com/blog/ExJxZ3/.

Business Week.  The Diesel Armada.  May 4, 2007.
http://www.businessweek.com/autos/autobeat/archives/2007/05/the_diesel_arma.html.

Tesla Motors.  The Tesla Roadster.  May, 2007.
http://www.teslamotors.com/index.php?js_enabled=1.  

Berdichevsky, Gene.  Tesla Motors, Inc.  The Tesla Roadster Battery System.  August 16, 2006.
http://www.teslamotors.com/display_data/TeslaRoadsterBatterySystem.pdf.

Science Daily.  Superconducting Wire Achieves Major Milestone.  May 10, 2004. 
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/05/040510014333.htm.

China Daily.  Three Gorges Dam Competed.  May 21, 2006.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2006-05/21/content_596086.htm.

Schafer, Sarah.  Newsweek.  China Leaps Forward: The People’s Republic is Embarking on the World’s Biggest Nuclear Building Spree.  February 6, 2006.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11080908/site/newsweek/.

Wise, Jeff.  Popular Mechanics.  The Truth About Hydrogen.  November, 2006.  Pp. 83-129.

Suzuki.  High Mileage Suzuki.  May, 2007
http://www.suzukicycles.org/high_milage_suzuki.shtml.

CBS News.  Ethanol Pollution Surprise: EPA Finds Worrisome Levels of Toxic Air Pollutants at Ethanol Plants.  May 3, 2002.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/05/03/tech/main508006.shtml.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.  Green Power Partnership.  May, 2007
http://www.epa.gov/greenpower/partners/top25.htm.

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