3. Motivation in the 21st century

3.3. Carbon dioxide emissions

In addition to pollutant emissions, carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions causing the so-called greenhouse effect and possible climate change are also problematic. At the same time, total CO2 emissions have increased significantly in recent decades, and humanity currently produces approximately 40 billion tons of CO2 per year.

Annual CO2 emissions by region (2017)


According to measurements made by the Mauna Loa observatories in the Hawaiian Islands, the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere is currently around 410 parts per million (ppm), while in the pre-industrial era (before 1750) the CO2 concentration did not exceed 300 ppm.

Vývoj koncentrace atmosférického CO2 (ppm – částic na 1 milion)


Carbon-burning process
  • Combustion of 1 kg of carbon produces 3.67 kg of CO2.
  • Due to the C content, for example in petrol (C4H10 to C12H30) in an amount of about 83% and a density of 0.73 kg / l, 1 liter of petrol contains about 0.61 kg of carbon.
  • Its combustion produces 2.24 kg of CO2.
  • At a consumption of 4.1 l / 100 km, it is 9.2 kg of CO2, or 92 g / km.
  • Combustion of a 50 l tank produces 112 kg of CO2.
  • Elementary stoichiometric merging equation
         1 kg C + 2.67 kg O2 → 3.67 kg CO2






https://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/ccgg/trends/
https://ourworldindata.org/co2-and-other-greenhouse-gas-emissions