Question

There are nearly 300 million passenger cars in the U.S. The average gas mileage is 25 MPG (miles per gallon) and each car is driven 10,000 miles per year. The CO2 equivalent emission from gasoline is 8.53 kg/gallon. Calculate the total CO2 equivalent emission in billion metric tons per year by these vehicles.

Answer 1

1.0236 billion metric tons

Step-by-step explanation:

Given Parameters

Number of cars = 300000000

Average gas mileage per car = 25 MPG

Average distance covered by a car in one year = 10000 miles

CO2 Emission = 8.53 kg/gallon

Derivations from the given parameters,

If the average gas mileage per car is 25 MPG, then the volume of fuel consumed by a car in a year is:

10000 miles ÷ 25 MPG = 400 gallons

The CO2 emission for one car in a year is:

400 gallons × 8.53 kg/gallon = 3412 kg or 3.412 metric tons (note: 1000 kg = 1 metric ton)

The CO2 emission for 300000000 cars in year is:

3.412 metric tons × 300000000 = 1023600000 kg = 1.0236 billion metric tons