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 one pound of coal produces one kwh of electricity How much CO 2 is produced from a pound of coal? Coal averages ~65% carbon C (AW 12) / 0.65  CO 2 (MW 44) 0.65 x 44 / 12 = 2.4 lbs CO 2 / lb coal How much CO 2 would be produced in one year? 2.4 x 500 x 10 3 lb/hr x = 1.2 x 10 6 pounds of CO 2 /hr 1.2 x 10 6 /hr x 8000 hr/yr = 10 billion pounds of CO 2 /year A natural gas-fired combined cycle plant reduces CO 2 by half

How much CO 2 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 C 8 H 18 How much CO 2 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 x 12,000 ~ 10,000 lbs CO 2 /car/yr If an average coal-burning power plant emits 10 billion lbs CO 2 /yr, a power plant emits as much CO 2 as 1 million cars

Equivalent Energy Savings Each of the following would save 50 billion pounds of CO 2 /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

Easy Factors to Remember One pound of coal produces one kwh of electricity One average coal-burning power plant emits 10 billion pounds of CO 2 /yr or ~40,000 pounds/household One average coal-burning power plant = 1 million cars An average car emits 10,000 pounds of CO 2 per year One typical electric car (25 kw) could power five typical homes (5 kw assuming peak is 4x average usage).