How can I calculate the carbon emissions associated with the wattage of any given household electrical item.?

Question

I'm trying to find out how much carbon is emmitted per watt output of an electrical item, connected to the British electricity grid.

Answer 1

Take the energy density of the fuel used to generate electricity in your area:

http://hypertextbook.com/facts/2003/Juli...

then take the wattage of your light.  Say it's 100 W.  That's 100 joules/sec of energy.  So, if all your electricity is from coal, take 20 mega-joules/kg as the energy density.  I'm going to assume that this is the total energy density in coal, not the usable energy.  Most coal-fired power plants are around 35% efficient, meaning for every 100 joules of energy produced in total by combustion, only 35 joules of electricity are generated (the rest comes off as waste heat).  That means the actual energy as electricity density of coal is around 7 mega-joules/kg.  To run your 100 W light bulb for an hour, you would need to produce 100 joules/sec * 3600 sec = 360,000 joules.  So the amount of coal you need to burn is:

Mass Coal = 360,000 joules / 7,000,000 joules/kg

= 0.045 kg, give or take.

YMMV

Answer 2

I have to ask why you should care about this in the first place!

Is it because you believe that you can make a difference of some kind?

Is it because you feel somehow responsible for (what you perceive) your over indulgent ways?

Or are you just interested to see what BS is out there?

If you want BS follow Dana's links.

If you would like to hear some very sad truths then try this link

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/progra...

It should open many peoples eyes!

This should show you how these scams are not just affecting the people who can indulge in stupidity, but how corporations are willing to rip-off people who can not afford it!

Answer 3

if you want country wide stats;

http://www.statistics.gov.uk/CCI/nscl.as...

sorry, its a minefield of pdf.s and spin. you have to dig about.

Answer 4

With Gore and his 30,000 dollar electric bill, I am sure he will know since he pays for his carbon footprint.  Of course he pays his own company.

For press interview requests, email Al Gore’s spokesperson, Kalee Kreider at [e-mail]

To request Gore to speak at an event, fax a one page request to his Nashville office at fax number 615-327-1323.

To send Al Gore a letter in the mail, contact his Nashville Office at:

2100 West End Avenue Suite 620

Nashville, TN 37203

Answer 5

The best way is to say that any appliance you use consumes negligible amounts of electricity that the carbon foot print is zero.

Answer 6

You'll have to check with your local electricity provider to see how much CO2 is emitted per amount of power provided, based on how they supply your electricity.

If you try carbonfootprint.com, it may have enough information about utility providers in the UK to calculate it for you.

Answer 7

With difficulty, but don't worry, the local bovine community will be emitting far more than you will be.