Lab #6

ESA 21: Environmental Science Activities

Activity Sheet Personal Impact Analysis

 

Name:                                                                         Professor:

 

Calculating your total emissions:

Enter the values from the Household Carbon Footprint Calculator  in the table below and calculate the percent of total emissions for each.

 

 (*Note:  If you have trouble loading the page, press the reload button or try a different browser.)

 

Category	Lbs. of CO2 per year	Percent of Total Emissions
Household Vehicles
Home Energy – Natural Gas
Home Energy – Electricity
Home Energy – Fuel Oil
Home Energy – Propane
Waste – Emissions after Recycling
Total Annual Emissions

 

Analysis:

For each question below, fully explain your answer.

 

In what category were your emissions highest?  Does this surprise you?  Why or why not?  Please explain fully using at least one paragraph.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How did your household’s overall emissions compare with the average of 60,000 lbs. per year?  Does the magnitude of your emissions surprise you?    ?  Why or why not?  Please explain fully using at least one paragraph.

 

 

 

 

 

Making Changes:

If your results are typical, your emissions from Transportation comprised a significant amount of your overall emissions.  Let’s see how a highly fuel efficient vehicle would affect your carbon dioxide contributions.  A number of “hybrid” gasoline powered vehicles are currently available, and these vehicles get significantly higher mileage than conventional vehicles.  One example is the 2002 Honda Insight, which has a combined (average of city and highway) fuel efficiency of 64 MPG.  In the first part of the What You Can Do to Reduce Emissions section, enter the appropriate value to increase your current vehicle’s mileage to 64 MPG (enter the difference between your current MPG and 64 MPG).  Hit the Tab key to register the change, and list the resultant reductions below.  You can obtain the New CO₂ emissions by subtracting the “lbs CO₂ avoided” from your previous total, or by scrolling down to the end of the calculator.

 

	Percent Reduction in CO2	New CO2 emissions
Switching to hybrid vehicle

 

After seeing the carbon reductions and visiting the web site on hybrid vehicles, would you be willing to seriously investigate buying such a vehicle?  Explain why or why not.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Clear the preceding change in vehicle mileage by highlighting the value you entered, entering “0” in its place, and pressing the TAB key.  Then proceed through Reduce Emissions section, and choose at least three options that you would be willing to embrace.  If you need to enter values (more MPG, thermostat changes, etc.) make sure they are reasonable changes.  List the three changes below and list the percent reductions in your total emissions that occurred as a result of each.

 

Change	Percent reduction in annual CO2 emissions

 

Seeing the reductions in emissions that occur as a result of these changes, would you be willing to immediately implement any of them?  Explain why or why not.

 

 

Part#2- Fill in the highlighted parts

 

Activity

 

To aid us in our estimation, we will use an online calculator that will convert the measurable items that we use into amounts of fossil fuel that have been consumed. This calculator is able to do this based upon some assumptions about the mix of fuel in this country. To use the calculator, you will need to find out or estimate the following quantities about your lifestyle:  

 

• The average number of miles that you drive each year, and the mileage of your car(s).

 

• The number of miles that you drive/fly each year on airlines, buses, trains, taxis, and motorcycles.

 

• The amount of electricity that you use in your home each year.

 

• The amount of natural gas, propane, kerosene, or heating oil that you use in your home each year.

 

• The amount of gasoline that you use in your lawnmower/weed eater each year.

 

Plugging these numbers into the calculator will allow you to estimate how much of each fossil fuel you are responsible for consuming each year. After doing this, answer the questions on the activity sheet below.

 

(Note:  To estimate your usage for each of these categories, you can use your monthly utility bills and determine the amount for a year.  If you do not receive a bill, ask a family member or friend for the information.  Or, you can use the averages below to input into the calculator.  Remember to use only the averages that you use in your household and that this will be a very rough estimate of your usage.)

 

U.S. Annual Household Fuel Usage Averages

 

Electricity: 8500 kWh / year

Natural Gas: 400 therms / year

Heating Oil:  800 gallons

Propane Gas: 20 gallons

Kerosene: 5 gallons

 

 

ESA21: Environmental Science Activities

Activity Sheet  Fossil Fuel Capstone

Initial data

 

Car 1 miles driven		Motorcycle miles		Yearly electricity
Car 1 mileage		Taxi miles		Yearly natural gas
Car 2 miles driven		Train/Subway miles		Yearly heating oil
Car 2 mileage		City bus miles		Yearly propane gas
Airline miles		Interstate bus miles		Yearly kerosene
		Mower gas gallons		People in home

 

 

Oil usage = _____ barrels       Coal usage = ______ tons       Natural gas usage = ____ tcf

 

1. There are approximately 315 million people living in the U.S.  If every one of them used as much fossil fuel for these processes, how much usage would we have in the U.S. per day and per year? 

 

Oil usage/day  ____________                        Oil usage/year ____________

Coal usage/day ___________                         Coal usage/year ___________

Natural gas usage/day ___________              Natural gas usage/year ___________

 

 

 2.   Estimate the number of miles that you travel by car each year for commuting purposes.  Go back to the calculator and replace your car miles with either city bus or train/subway miles (depending upon what is available to you).  If you don’t have public transportation in your area, “pretend” you do. By how much did your fossil fuel usage change?  Would you make this change?  Why or why not?

  

  3.  It is estimated that the average home can save about 1,000 kwhr of electricity by replacing all of the incandescent light bulbs in the home with fluorescent ones.  The average cost of doing this is $200, but it yields about $80 in savings each year.  What would such a change to your fossil fuel usage?  Would you make such a change?  Why or why not?