My CO2 Emission Savings!

So, at work, they have been issuing these incentive programs for people to start taking the bus or carpooling... pretty much anything other than driving alone.  I signed up on this site for an account, and it made me start thinking about my CO² Emissions.  I decided to think about how much I have saved by taking the bus!  I did what any self respecting computer nerd would do, and I opened up a new spreadsheet to organize data.

I started by calculating how much CO² my car produced... then the bus... then the difference... but somewhere in the middle I thought about air-travel... then power consumption at home... and I'll let Microsoft take care of off-setting my power usage at work (Which they do...)

Here is what I came up with:

***	*Miles	lbs CO2 from car	**lbs CO2 from bus	lbs CO2 Saved	*Gallons of gas saved	Money Saved
Per Month	636	440.83	165.36	275.47	21	$79
So Far:	3,816	2,644.98	992.16	1,652.82	127	$476
This Year	5,724	3,967.48	1,488.24	2,479.24	190	$713
1 Year	7,632	5,289.97	1,984.32	3,305.65	254	$953

* This is based on my 15.4 mile commute to work in a car that gets 28 ^miles/_gallon.
** The CO² from bus is based on the per passenger average emissions in the US.
*** I combined data from the Sunlight Institute, and CarbonCounter.org for these numbers.

I also estimated that my annual trips to Michigan via airplane produces 10,031lbs of CO².  Of which, I think about 50lbs could be accredited to me (based on a guess of 200 people on a plane.)

So, this is just some food for thought.  How much CO² do you produce?

Here is a hint.

	Miles	lbs CO2 from car	Gallons	Price
Linden to Muskeegan	400	771	30	$113
Linden to Troy	60	41.59	3	$11

*Round trip estimates... 13mpg for work van to Muskeegan, and 20mpg to go to Troy.

back to more about me...

I am also responsible for 2,818.26^lbs/_year of CO² from my consumption of [3060KWh of] electricity.  However, this number is most likely higher than my current CO² emissions because it is based on data from 2004 that I got from the EPA.  According to that data my region: gets 49% of it's power from Hydro-Electric Power plants, 2% from non-hydro renewable, 4% nuclear, 0% oil, 11% gas, 34% coal, and produces .921 lbs of CO² per KWh.

The national averages are: 2% non-hydro renewable, 7% hydro, 20% nuclear, 3% oil, 17% gas, 50% coal.  So, my power is cleaner than the national average (1.363lbs of CO² per KWh.)

So, in conclusion my total estimated carbon footprint for power usage, driving my car, riding the bus, and flying to Michigan twice a year comes to a total of 10,142.55 ^lbs/_year of CO².  In relation, this puts me slightly above the average person in the world, and less than ¹/₃ the average American's CO² emissions.

• The average American produces 36,684.92^lbs/_year of CO².
• The average person on the planet produces 9,788.52^lbs/_year of CO².
• The average person in India produces 2,314.85^lbs/_year of CO². (I assume they produce the least.. maybe?)

* data is from carboncounter.org

So, I even have a solution for me to become carbon neutral.  In theory, if I donate $55.20 a year to carboncounter.org, the money will go to projects that will reduce CO² in the environment to compensate for the CO² I produce.  

     I got started on this whole bit because Microsoft has these incentive programs to use alternative methods to get to work.  All of these incentives include the option to either receive a $50 gift certificate to Amazon.com, or to donate $50 on my behalf to Carbonfund.org.  So, essentially just by giving up a gift certificate I am receiving just for going to work, I can compensate for the CO² I produce.

So, that's all for now.

Later,

  
     SteveO