How much CO2 was used by plants to make all the coal,gas&oil now being consumed by humans?

Question

How much CO2 was used by plants to make all the coal,gas&oil now being consumed by humans?

Answer 1

200,000 lbs squared

Answer 2

It takes 23.5 metric tonnes of ancient plant material to produce 1 liter of regular gasoline.*

The total fossil fuel used in the year 1997 is the result of 422 years of all plant matter that grew on the entire surface and in all the oceans of the ancient earth.

* I can’t do the math, but Ecologist Dr. Jeff Dukes did:

http://www.cbc.ca/quirks/archives/03-04/...

See audio for "Burning Buried Sunshine".

Answer 3

As much as we can dig or drill up. or at least until it becomes more expensive than other alternatives.

Answer 4

d**n good question... Have a star...

Answer 5

1... 2... [crunch] 3...

Answer 6

There are two possibilities. Either fossil fuels come from biological material or they don't. If they come from biological material, then all of the coal, gas, and oil in use were used by plants in the past. If they don't, then coal, oil, and gas are all geologically renewable resources.

Answer 7

That is a good question, I gona get in touch with a  hugger and let you know.

Answer 8

They don't know yet because they haven't explored and discovered all of the existing fossil fuel.

Answer 9

None.  CO2 is not used in the production of energy, it is a byproduct that is produced in burning fuels.