Do cars or factories pollute more?

Answer 1

The use of cars cause the most pollution. In areas where people use them on a daily basis. Taking alternative transportation cuts down on the use of motor vehicles and the pollution that they produce.

Answer 2

This question is rather vague. Collectively, cars cause more pollution, because there are so many and they are in constant use. One trip on the space shuttle, however, burns a lot more fuel than the average car trip. Of course, the shuttle also burns hydrogen and oxygen in its main engines, and therefore does not produce carbon monoxide from those engines. What about other vehicles, like unmanned vehicles? Some run on kerosene, or nitric acid, indeed a whole family of chemicals. This question needs to be more specific.

Answer 3

Carbon dioxide pollution:

Vehicles that burn fossil fuels release carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that is the main contributor to global warming. Carbon dioxide in this form is recognised as a pollutant.

Engine related air pollution:

Vehicles which burn fossil fuels just aren't 100% efficient at that task. Of the fuel that goes into the engine a portion of it comes out unburned. Another part of it is heated by the conditions in the engine, and its component molecules are cracked and reformed and a portion of these emerge in the exhaust. There are also other fuel components (additive packages, sulfur, detergents) that are either not burnable or only partially consumed and discharged. Finally there is the air that is consumed in the engine. The oxygen is largely combined with carbon to produce carbon dioxide, the nitrogen is combined with oxygen under the engines high heat and pressure to form various nitrogen oxides (lumped together as NOx).

Fuel and fuelling related pollution:

During fueling and as the vehicle stands part of the fuel evaporates and is emitted to the air. This emission contains volatile organic compounds ranging from methane and butane to cyclic compounds like benzene and other aromatics.

Other air pollution

As a vehicle travels it stirs up road dust which is a particulate air pollutant. In addition the tyres are slowly wearing away shedding latex and artificial rubber as particulate. This is a potential allergen.

Answer 4

It depends on the specific context. Generally, cars tend to emit more pollutants on a per-vehicle basis compared to individual factories. However, the total pollution output of factories can be significant due to the collective emissions from multiple industrial processes.

Answer 5

In a big city (like LA), cars. In a medium city, factories, and in a small city, there are no factories so cars.