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How much CO 2 does a coal-burning power plant emit?

How much CO 2 does a coal-burning power plant emit?. How much coal does it take to produce one kwh of electricity? A typical coal burning power plant (500 Mw) uses 250 tons/hr 2.5 x 10 2 x 2 x 10 3 = 500 x 10 3 lb/hr = 500 x 10 3 kwh /hr

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How much CO 2 does a coal-burning power plant emit?

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  1. How much CO2 does a coal-burning power plant emit? • How much coal does it take to produce one kwh of electricity? • A typical coal burning power plant (500 Mw) uses 250 tons/hr • 2.5 x 102 x 2 x 103 = 500 x 103 lb/hr = 500 x 103kwh/hr • one pound of coal produces one kwh of electricity • How much CO2 is produced from a pound of coal? • Coal averages ~65% carbon • C (AW 12) / 0.65 CO2 (MW 44) • 0.65 x 44 / 12 = 2.4 lbs CO2 / lb coal • How much CO2 would be produced in one year? • 2.4 x 500 x 103 lb/hr x = 1.2 x 106 pounds of CO2/hr • 1.2 x 106/hr x 8000 hr/yr = 10 billion pounds of CO2/year A natural gas-fired combined cycle plant reduces CO2 by half

  2. How much CO2 does an average car emit? • A gallon of gas weighs 6 lbs and the average car gets 22 mpg • The average composition of gasoline is C8H18 • How much CO2 is produced per mile driven? • 6 lb/gal x 96/114 x 44/12 / 22 mi/gal = 0.84 lb/mi • The average car travels 12,000 miles per year • 0.84 x 12,000 ~ 10,000 lbs CO2 /car/yr • If an average coal-burning power plant emits 10 billion lbs CO2/yr, a power plant emits as much CO2 as 1 million cars

  3. Equivalent Energy Savings • Each of the following would save 50 billion pounds of CO2/yr, the equivalent of five average coal-burning power plants: • - Increasing average fuel efficiency by 0.5 mpg • - Driving 0.5 mile less per day per vehicle • - Each home does one less load of laundry per month • - Each home air conditioner runs for 10 minutes less per day • - Everyone daily • Uses a 15w CFL instead of a 60w incandescent bulb for 4 hours • Turns off a laptop computer for 4 hours • Turns off a desktop computer for 90 minutes • Turns off a TV for one hour

  4. Easy Factors to Remember • One pound of coal produces one kwh of electricity • One average coal-burning power plant emits 10 billion pounds of CO2 /yr or ~40,000 pounds/household • One average coal-burning power plant = 1 million cars • An average car emits 10,000 pounds of CO2 per year • One typical electric car (25 kw) could power five typical homes (5 kw assuming peak is 4x average usage).

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