source: [http://www.patagoniaalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/How-much-carbon-dioxide-is-produced-by-burning-gasoline-and-diesel-fuel-FAQ-U.S.-Energy-Information-Administration-EIA.pdf](http://www.patagoniaalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/How-much-carbon-dioxide-is-produced-by-burning-gasoline-and-diesel-fuel-FAQ-U.S.-Energy-Information-Administration-EIA.pdf)
I was curious about how much CO2 would I have to reclaim to offset my car and this number came up. A follow up question would be, how do I estimate how much carbon I need to reclaim for my vehicle?
In: Chemistry
Because each carbon atom in the fuel combines with two oxygen atoms in the air during combustion. Oxygen id the missing link in your equation.
Gas is mostly carbon by weight.
When you burn it in a car, you also add in oxygen that you get from the atmosphere.
This produced Carbon Dioxide, or CO2. That is two oxygen atoms for every carbon atom.
Carbon has an atomic weight of 12, oxygen has an atomic weight of 16. Your CO2 molecule is 72% oxygen by weight. Only 28% of the weight comes from the actual gas.
Burning (combustion) is a reaction that involves oxygen in the air *plus* whatever is being burned, which means that ultimately you’re involving more than one gallon of gasoline.
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