Activity 2.1 - Climate, Tracking my Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Problem
Global warming and climate change are exacerbated by the over production of greenhouse gases by human actions (Ghosh, 2020). When the sun shines down on the earth, electromagnetic radiation (EMR) is absorbed by the earth's surface. This shortwave electromagnetic radiation is then re-radiated into the troposphere as longwave EMR. Greenhouse gases in the troposphere layer of the atmosphere absorb this and re-radiate it, causing the air to heat up. If there are more greenhouse gases, there is more material to absorb and re-radiate the EMR in the atmosphere, causing global warming (Freedman, 2018). For this activity, I will observe my personal greenhouse emissions and find ways in which I can decrease my contribution to the atmosphere.
Investigation
Global warming and climate change are exacerbated by the over production of greenhouse gases by human actions (Ghosh, 2020). When the sun shines down on the earth, electromagnetic radiation (EMR) is absorbed by the earth's surface. This shortwave electromagnetic radiation is then re-radiated into the troposphere as longwave EMR. Greenhouse gases in the troposphere layer of the atmosphere absorb this and re-radiate it, causing the air to heat up. If there are more greenhouse gases, there is more material to absorb and re-radiate the EMR in the atmosphere, causing global warming (Freedman, 2018). For this activity, I will observe my personal greenhouse emissions and find ways in which I can decrease my contribution to the atmosphere.
Investigation
I kept track of any activities that produce greenhouse gases, both directly and indirectly. From these numbers, I calculated an approximation of carbon dioxide emitted.
On Sunday, I started house sitting for my uncle while him and his wife are on vacation. I drove there in the morning and stayed home all day. Luckily, they only live 1.6 miles away. I played my Xbox for about 2 hours. I watched two movies, adding up to about 5 hours of television. I fell asleep on the phone with my significant other.
I woke up on Monday with a headache, so I avoided screens for most of the day. Once my headache went away, I worked on some school work for the week and watched TV in the background for about 2 hours. I fell asleep on the phone with my significant other again.
Tuesday was dedicated to homework. I spent about 8 hours on my laptop doing homework and sending emails. When I finished, my boyfriend picked me up and we went out to eat. The restaurant was 2.4 miles away, so we drove 4.8 miles total. Afterwards, we played video games for about 2 hours.
My grandmother's birthday was on Wednesday. I drove the 1.6 miles home and we ordered food to be delivered from Red Lobster for lunch. Red Lobster is 2 miles away from my house, making a 4 mile round trip for the delivery driver. Afterwards I watched a movie with my brother for about 2 and a half hours. Later that day I had a job orientation at the San Antonio Zoo. The Zoo is 6.7 miles away, making a 13.4 mile round trip. When I got home, I video called a friend for about 2 hours before going to bed.
In total, I drove 25.4 miles. My car gets about 25 miles per gallon (fueleconomy.gov, n.d.), meaning I used up 1.016 gallons of gasoline. This results in 19.9 pounds of carbon dioxide emitted from driving around in the past 4 days (EPA, n.d.) . The television was on for about 13.5 hours, including when it was in use for video games. The television uses about 0.0586 kWh per hour (Eco Cost Savings, 2022), translating to 0.056 pounds of carbon dioxide emitted (EPA, n.d.). My laptop uses about 104.07 kWh per year (Lenovo, n.d.). If I divide that by 8760 hours in a year, it comes out to about 0.0119 kWh per hour. After using my laptop for about 10 hours, I used up 0.119 kWh of power, emitting about 0.113 pounds of carbon dioxide (EPA, n.d.). Finally, I used my phone for a total of 18 hours. According to the Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory, the average phone uses around 0.018 kWh of electricity while plugged in for 8 hours (Rastogi, 2012). Therefore, my phone uses about 0.0023 kWh per hour and 0.0414 kWh total. This gives carbon emissions of 0.039 pounds of carbon dioxide (EPA, n.d.). Overall, I contributed 20.108 pounds of carbon dioxide in the past four days to the atmosphere.
Data Analysis and Interpretation
The action that produced the most carbon dioxide was driving by far. The second highest producer of carbon dioxide was my laptop. The third highest producer of carbon dioxide was television use. The action that gave the least carbon emissions was cell phone use.
Explanation and Designing Solutions
Keeping track of the amount of time I spent doing things that emitted greenhouse gases really put into perspective how much screen time I get per day. To cut back on the amount of carbon emissions I produce, I should first look at the activity that produced the most CO2. Driving seems to be an outlier in the amount of CO2 it produces compared to my other activities. Instead of using my personal vehicle to drive around everywhere, I could utilize public transportation. Though buses emit more carbon dioxide than the average car, it shuttles multitudes of people around. The amount of gas that would be used overall if each passenger drove themselves individually outweighs the amount of gas used to shuttle buses full of people around town.
The second action I could investigate is my cell phone use. Though it produced the least CO2, I used it for the most amount of time. Instead of falling asleep on the phone at night, I should hang up before I go to bed. I also should not keep my phone plugged in since that uses more power (Rastogi, 2012).
Lastly, my television time could be cut down. I should spend more time outside, reading, or playing with my dog.
I cannot cut down on computer use due to its necessity for school and work.
On Sunday, I started house sitting for my uncle while him and his wife are on vacation. I drove there in the morning and stayed home all day. Luckily, they only live 1.6 miles away. I played my Xbox for about 2 hours. I watched two movies, adding up to about 5 hours of television. I fell asleep on the phone with my significant other.
I woke up on Monday with a headache, so I avoided screens for most of the day. Once my headache went away, I worked on some school work for the week and watched TV in the background for about 2 hours. I fell asleep on the phone with my significant other again.
Tuesday was dedicated to homework. I spent about 8 hours on my laptop doing homework and sending emails. When I finished, my boyfriend picked me up and we went out to eat. The restaurant was 2.4 miles away, so we drove 4.8 miles total. Afterwards, we played video games for about 2 hours.
My grandmother's birthday was on Wednesday. I drove the 1.6 miles home and we ordered food to be delivered from Red Lobster for lunch. Red Lobster is 2 miles away from my house, making a 4 mile round trip for the delivery driver. Afterwards I watched a movie with my brother for about 2 and a half hours. Later that day I had a job orientation at the San Antonio Zoo. The Zoo is 6.7 miles away, making a 13.4 mile round trip. When I got home, I video called a friend for about 2 hours before going to bed.
In total, I drove 25.4 miles. My car gets about 25 miles per gallon (fueleconomy.gov, n.d.), meaning I used up 1.016 gallons of gasoline. This results in 19.9 pounds of carbon dioxide emitted from driving around in the past 4 days (EPA, n.d.) . The television was on for about 13.5 hours, including when it was in use for video games. The television uses about 0.0586 kWh per hour (Eco Cost Savings, 2022), translating to 0.056 pounds of carbon dioxide emitted (EPA, n.d.). My laptop uses about 104.07 kWh per year (Lenovo, n.d.). If I divide that by 8760 hours in a year, it comes out to about 0.0119 kWh per hour. After using my laptop for about 10 hours, I used up 0.119 kWh of power, emitting about 0.113 pounds of carbon dioxide (EPA, n.d.). Finally, I used my phone for a total of 18 hours. According to the Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory, the average phone uses around 0.018 kWh of electricity while plugged in for 8 hours (Rastogi, 2012). Therefore, my phone uses about 0.0023 kWh per hour and 0.0414 kWh total. This gives carbon emissions of 0.039 pounds of carbon dioxide (EPA, n.d.). Overall, I contributed 20.108 pounds of carbon dioxide in the past four days to the atmosphere.
Data Analysis and Interpretation
The action that produced the most carbon dioxide was driving by far. The second highest producer of carbon dioxide was my laptop. The third highest producer of carbon dioxide was television use. The action that gave the least carbon emissions was cell phone use.
Explanation and Designing Solutions
Keeping track of the amount of time I spent doing things that emitted greenhouse gases really put into perspective how much screen time I get per day. To cut back on the amount of carbon emissions I produce, I should first look at the activity that produced the most CO2. Driving seems to be an outlier in the amount of CO2 it produces compared to my other activities. Instead of using my personal vehicle to drive around everywhere, I could utilize public transportation. Though buses emit more carbon dioxide than the average car, it shuttles multitudes of people around. The amount of gas that would be used overall if each passenger drove themselves individually outweighs the amount of gas used to shuttle buses full of people around town.
The second action I could investigate is my cell phone use. Though it produced the least CO2, I used it for the most amount of time. Instead of falling asleep on the phone at night, I should hang up before I go to bed. I also should not keep my phone plugged in since that uses more power (Rastogi, 2012).
Lastly, my television time could be cut down. I should spend more time outside, reading, or playing with my dog.
I cannot cut down on computer use due to its necessity for school and work.
References
Eco Cost Savings. (2022). TV Wattage - 2022's Most Efficient TVs Revealed [With Data]. Eco Cost Savings. https://ecocostsavings.com/tv-wattage/#:~:text=at%20hourly%20consumption.-,How%20much%20electricity%20does%20a%20TV%20use%20per%20hour%3F,%2C%20on%20average%2C%20when%20On.
Eco Cost Savings. (2022). TV Wattage - 2022's Most Efficient TVs Revealed [With Data]. Eco Cost Savings. https://ecocostsavings.com/tv-wattage/#:~:text=at%20hourly%20consumption.-,How%20much%20electricity%20does%20a%20TV%20use%20per%20hour%3F,%2C%20on%20average%2C%20when%20On.
EPA. (n.d.). Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator. United Stated Environmental Protection Agency. https://www.epa.gov/energy/greenhouse-gas-equivalencies-calculator#results
Freedman, B. (2018). Environmental science: A Canadian perspective. Halifax, Canada: Dalhousie University Libraries.
fueleconomy.gov. (n.d.). 2013 Nissan Rogue. fueleconomy.gov. https://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/bymodel/2013_Nissan_Rogue.shtml
Ghosh, I. (202, November 6). Greenhouse Gas Emissions by Sector. Visual Capitalist. https://www.visualcapitalist.com/a-global-breakdown-of-greenhouse-gas-emissions-by-sector/
Lenovo. (n.d.). Lenovo Energy Calculator. Lenovo. https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/energycalculator
Rastogi, N. S. (2012, March 16). You Charged Me All Night Long. Slate. https://slate.com/technology/2012/03/is-charging-your-cell-phone-overnight-a-major-waste-of-energy.html
Lenovo. (n.d.). Lenovo Energy Calculator. Lenovo. https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/energycalculator
Rastogi, N. S. (2012, March 16). You Charged Me All Night Long. Slate. https://slate.com/technology/2012/03/is-charging-your-cell-phone-overnight-a-major-waste-of-energy.html
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