January 25, 2006

How Big is My Greenhouse Gas Footprint?

"How much Greenhouse Gases have been released "in my name"? I began by asking myself this question. And, "How do I feel about it?"

I am a United States Citizen.  The United States has polluted the world far more than any other country.  I, on the other hand, believe I have lived my life within a reason balance with Nature.  So what really happened?  Exactly how much GHG has been released into the atmosphere without my permission?...for my whole life?

Using information from the EIA (Energy Information Agency) I found the following.

Approximately 251,862,700,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent Greenhouse Gases have been released into the atmosphere since 1940 (my approximate birth year). 

From the Census Bureau I obtained the following statistic:  There have been 12,903,369,255 people years in the United States from 1940.  This is the yearly population added together (1940-2003).

So, if I divide "people years" into the GHG emissions I get, 19.52 tons of GHG (carbon dioxide equivalent) per person per year.  For me, for the number of years I've lived, this means 1,210.24 tons (ouch!).

First of all, this leaves me somewhat amazed and embarrassed...and angry.  But, be as it may, I have to ask myself if there was ANY WAY of correcting this horrible imbalance.  I somehow have to find a way to replace not only what THEY continue to do in my name but reverse an additional amount as well...and all before I die. I have a real need to do this if I'm going to leave this world with no "ecological footprint".

The United States had roughly tripled its per-capita consumption of energy and become a global superpower. Electricity, for example, was essentially unavailable until the 1880s; now it is ubiquitous.

This graph depicts the same conclusion I made except it is not yet converted to carbon dioxide equivalency.  This conversion to CO2 equivalency is about 3.8 times.  This would therefore corroborate my calculations.

Fuel for Energy

Please observe how much coal (as well as petroleum) has taken on new life in the past 30 years.  Yet from the following graph we can see that it has very little involvement directly in the lives of the citizenry.  So how and where is it being used? 

Today, the United States extracts coal in enormous quantities. In 1998 U.S. production of coal reached a record 1.12 billion short tons and was second worldwide after China. U.S. 2000 production was 1.08 billion short tons.

Coal Consumption

In 2000 the industrial sector used less than half as much coal as in 1949 and only 9 percent of all coal consumed in the United States. The quantities that went to the residential, commercial, and transportation sectors were trivial. Electricity generation, however, used enormous amounts of coal and accounted for nearly 92 percent of all coal consumed in the United States in 2000.

Coal-fired electric generating units emit gases that are of environmental concern. In 1999 U.S. carbon dioxide emissions from the combustion of coal for electric power generation were over half a billion metric tons of carbon, one-third of total carbon dioxide emitted from all U.S. fuel sources.

Very little doubt here.  THE UTILITIES and the GOVERNMENT have preached CHEAP ELECTRICITY for as long as anyone can remember.  You know what the drug dealers say, "I'm just giving them what they want."  Well, the utilities have said, "So we'll give them their cheap electricity. Let's just hope they don't realize that in order to deliver this cheap energy we've had to pollute the environment more than anyone or anything in history."  All this is done out of sight of the common citizen.  All the people know they are doing is turning on the switch on the wall.  Easy, simple and downright wrong if you want to contribute to the correcting process.

One important category of costs that is often not reflected in consumers' bills is energy-related environmental effects. These unwanted effects can be thought of as the tail end of the energy cycle, which begins with extraction and processing of fuels (or gathering of wind or solar energy), proceeds with conversion to useful forms by means of petroleum refining, electricity generation, and other processes, and then concludes with distribution to, and consumption by, end-users.

Carbon dioxide (CO₂) accounts for the largest share of combined anthropogenic (generated by man) greenhouse gas emissions. In 1999 U.S. anthropogenic CO₂ emissions totaled about 5.6 billion metric tons (of gas; 1 ton of carbon equals 3.667 tons of carbon dioxide gas), 17 percent higher than in 1980 and 28 percent higher than in 1983, the low point of the 20-year period from 1980 through 1999 (Figure 32). Nearly 99 percent of this total was energy-related emissions, especially from petroleum consumed by the transportation sector, coal burned by electric utilities, and natural gas used by industry, homes, and businesses.

So, to get back to the original question.  How is it that I polluted so much?  Do I participate directly in polluting?  Or is it done on my behalf, without my knowledge?  My answer is very personal and involves the possibility of being asked to defend our "American Way of Life" or change our way of life for something else.

It would seem that we make the choice right now to change the "American Way of Life" or circumstances will take it from us anyway.

Yes, we are running out of oil.  We have accepted the use of oil products as the primary fuel of our Way of Life.  This is going to end.  It can be now, by choice, or later with no choice.  We starting running out in the United States back in 1972.  From then on our Way of Life has been on borrowed time.

Oil Consumption of the United States

US Oil Production

So as to my attempt to lessen my footprint; (1) I personally have taken control and have "pulled the plug" on the coal/natgas/nuclear grid and (2) get you to do the same.  Taking me off eliminates further pollution in my name.  Getting you to pull the plug too helps you do the same.   It also allows me to count your decision's effect towards reversing what has been done in my name.  Now, if you function as a decision-maker of a utility company, I sincerely hope you have your ears to the rail and can hear the switches being turned off.  Then, again, you can help by doing your own switching, by turning on the "green" alternatives for your power production.

I just wish I could know if I've somehow been able to accomplish the "no eco footprint" attempt.  I guess I'll die without knowing one way or the other.  Maybe the fact that I've extracted myself and my family totally from the grid will somehow be enough.

Larry E. Bell

President

North East Arizona Energy Services Company

(a nonprofit energy corporation)

All bold text and graphs obtained from http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/aer/eh/frame.html