Deck 4: Environmental Consequences of Fossil Fuel Use

Question 1

(a) There are approximately 250 million passenger vehicles in the United
States. If each is driven 25,000 km per year, calculate the total mass of CO, NOx and HC
emitted in 1970 if all vehicles just meet the government standard at that time.
(b) Repeat part (a) for vehicles that just meet the 2001 standard.
(c) Estimate the total reduction in these three pollutants between 1970 and 2001 for
vehicles that meet the actual yearly standards compared to the situation where all vehicles
remained at the 1970 level.

Answer 1

Multiplying the emissions per km for 1970 from the table by the total number of km driven
gives the following:

Question 2

If a gasoline-powered vehicle requires primary energy of 3.7 MJ/km from
the combustion of gasoline (mostly octane) and emits 1.7 g/km of CO, what fraction of the
carbon in the octane is not fully oxidized?

Answer 2

Question 3

Assume that coal has a sulfur content of 3% by weight. If all the sulfur is
converted into SO₂ during the combustion process, how much SO₂ is produced per tonne
of coal? How much is produced per megajoule of energy produced?

Answer 3

One tonne of coal would contain (1000 kg)×(0.03) = 30 kg of sulfur. The
molecular mass of

Question 4

Pluto has no atmosphere and has an average orbital diameter that is 39.2
times that of the earth. The mean surface temperature is 37 K. Estimate the albedo of Pluto.

Question 5

A coal-fired generating station produces an average of 1000 MWe at an

Question 6

The earth's moon has no atmosphere and has an albedo of 0.136. Calculate
the total power radiated (in watts) from the moon's surface.

Question 7

Compare the values of the ALR for the troposphere as calculated from
Figures 4.5 and 4.6 with the typical value given in the text.

Question 8

A generating station burns methane and produces electricity with an

Question 9

Gasoline (approximated by octane) typically contains 0.1% sulfur by

Question 10

There are about 250 million personal vehicles in the United States. Assume
that each drives 25,000 km per year on average. What is the average reduction in NOx
emissions per square kilometer per year resulting from the implementation of the 2004
U.S. emission standards compared with the situation before any standards were introduced
(1960)?

Question 11

Question 12

The total mass of the atmosphere per unit area is equal to the atmospheric

Question 13

(a) The orbit of Venus is at an average distance of 0.723 astronomical units
from the sun. Given an albedo of 0.9, calculate the mean surface temperature if Venus has
no atmosphere.
(b) Locate information about the actual surface temperature of Venus and discuss the
relevance of your answer to part (a).

Question 14

A coal-fired generating station with a thermodynamic efficiency of 35%

Question 15

Question 16

A typical gasoline-powered vehicle requires about 3.7 MJ of primary energy

Question 17

Denver has a land area of about 400 km2. Using Figure 4.1, make the

Question 18

Question 19

(a) Calculate the mass of CO2 produced per kilogram of methane burned. (b)

Question 20