As a percentage of overall carbon dioxide output how much are cars responsible for?

Answer 1

CO2 from a car is produced by a chemical reaction on the fuel in the engine. Carbon enters the car via the fuel, with each atom of carbon attached to (about) two atoms of hydrogen. When the carbon leaves via the exhaust, each atom is attached to two atoms of oxygen.

The chemical action of producing the CO2 also produces the heat energy that creates pressure and pushes the pistons to propel the car.

So one pound of fuel produces about 3¼ pounds of CO2. The extra mass comes from oxygen taken in through the car's air filter.

A car that travels 12,000 miles per year uses 300-400 gallons of fuel, weighing 2000-3000 pounds, therefore the CO2 is 6000-8000 pounds, or 3 to 4 tons.

Answer 2

A gallon of gasoline releases 14 lbs of CO2 when burned. A car that averages 20 miles per gallon and is driven a typical 15,000 miles per year will burn 750 gallons, emitting a little over 5 tons of CO2.

A typical automobile emits about six tenths (0.6) pounds of CO2 per mile driven.

Answer 3

In the US alone cars released 314 million metric tons in 2004. The rest of the world is about the same amount all together because they don't drive as far or as much as we do. By those rates its almost 2 million metric tons a day.

Answer 4

In 1999, in the US, more than 30 percent of fossil fuel related carbon dioxide emissions were a direct result of transportation. With about two-thirds of this being from petrol consumption by motor vehicles and the remainder coming from diesel and jet fuel use in lorries and aircraft, respectively. Worldwide, motor vehicles currently emit well over 900 million metric tons of CO2 each year. These emissions account for more than 15 percent of global fossil fuel CO2 releases.

Answer 5

Karen Schkolnick, the Bay Area Air Quality Managment District's helpful public information person, pointed me toward some local stats: 2008 projection for all transportation sources: 52 percent of C02 emissions. Cars and light trucks: 29.5 percent. She noted that being as this is a major transportation hub, one might intuit that we'd get hit a bit more than other areas with transportation generally.

Source: http://www.ibabuzz.com/transportation/2007/12/12/cars-and-suvs-only-28-percent-of-greenhouse-gases/

Answer 6

The amount of air pollution due to cars varies by location and country. Some countries like Canada have indicated that 25% of air pollution is due to transportations (cars, busses, transport trucks, aircraft and trains) while other jurisdictions look at more specific sites such as cities where automotive air pollution is 50% to 90% of the total. Other countries such as India have domestic cooking and heating as a major source as cheap and dirty fuels are used for this purpose while China has significant emissions from industrial spices as coal is used to fire generating plants.

Answer 7

Cars are responsible for approximately 17% of the overall carbon dioxide output worldwide. This percentage can vary depending on the region and the type of transportation infrastructure in place.

Answer 8

the answer is about 35%

Answer 9

More than 1% less than 100%

Answer 10

30 billion mt