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Conserver Facts
From the book entitled: Stormy Weather – 101 Solutions to Climate Change, by Guy Dauncy and Patrick Mazza:
CO2
- % of the enhanced greenhouse effect caused by CO2: 52.5%
- % of the enhanced greenhouse effect caused by methane: 17.3%
- % of the enhanced greenhouse effect caused by ozone: 12.5%
- % of the enhanced greenhouse effect caused by industrial greenhouse gases: 12.2%
- % of the enhanced greenhouse effect caused by nitrous oxide: 5.4%
- Tons of CO2 produced in manufacturing a car: 5.25
- Pounds of CO2 produced in manufacturing a daily paper: 0.72
- Pounds of CO2 saved by recycling 1 bottle: 1
- Pounds of CO2 saved by recycling 1 paper: 0.25
- Tonnes of CO2 produced by 1 person flying New York to Paris: 3.8
- Tonnes of CO2 produced by 1 person flying Winnipeg to Miami: 2.2
- Conversion factor, carbon to CO2: multiply by 3.667
- Pounds of CO2 produced by burning 1 gallon of gasoline: 20
- Pounds of CO2 per mile released if car does 20 mpg: 1
- Tons of CO2 released by driving 15,000 miles in Chevrolet Suburban SUV: 12.9
- Tons of CO2 released by driving 15,000 miles in Honda Insight: 3.1
- Years since US Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency Standards were raised: 26
Energy
- Primary energy consumed by the world in 1998: 382 quadrillion Btus (quads)
- % of primary energy provided by fossil fuels in 1998: 85%
- Potential for gains through energy efficiency today: 50%
- Potential for gains through energy efficiency and lifestyle changes by 2025: 75%
- Primary energy needed for sustainable world in 2025: 500 quads
- Global wind energy potential: 341 quads
- Global geothermal energy potential: 468 quads
- Global tidal energy potential: 72 quads
- Global biomass energy potential: 254 quads
- Land needed to generate 400 quads if all was from solar energy: 330,000 square miles
- % of Earth’s total land area that this represents: 0.57%
Wind
- Year when Danish neighbours built first modern wind turbine: 1978
- % of Denmark’s wind generated by wind in 2001: 15%
- Number of jobs in Danish wind energy sector: 17,000
- Quantity of wind energy generated in Germany in 2000: 6,100 MW
- Quantity of wind energy generated in USA in 2000: 2,500 MW
- Quantity of wind energy generated in Canada in 2000: 137 MW
- Europe’s goal for wind energy in 2010: 60,000 MW
- US electrical generation capacity in 1998: 3,600 TWh
- North Dakota’s wind energy potential: 1,200 TWh
- Texas’ wind energy potential: 1,190 TWh
- Kansas’ wind energy potential: 1,070 TWh
- South Dakota’s wind energy potential: 1,033 TWh
- Lower 48 states’ wind energy potential: 10,871 TWh
Waste
- Value of carbon displacement via energy efficiency and innovation: $4 – $7 per ton
- Cost of carbon displacement via solar electrification project in Sri Lanka: $18 per ton
- Cost of carbon displacement via planting trees with American Forests: $11 per ton
- Cost of carbon displacement via methane recovery from landfill: $2 per ton
- Greenhouse gases released in 1998 by US landfills, in carbon equivalents : 65 million tons
- Number of landfills in the USA: 6,000
- Number that are capturing their methane gas to convert to energy: 270
- % of lumber cut in the U.S. that is used for wooden pallets: 11%
- Number of pallets in the US: 1.5 billion
- Number of new pallets made every year: 400 million
- Number of houses that could be framed each year from discarded pallets: 300,000
- Annual cost to New York businesses to dispose of pallets: $130 million
Just a correction of units: MW is not a “quantity of energy”, it’s a rate. You need to specify a time duration to get the quantity. TWh IS a quantity of energy, but you call it capacity, which is wrong as well.