The amount of fossil fuels consumed in the U.S. is: - 5 million barrels of oil (

Question

The amount of fossil fuels consumed in the U.S. is:
- 5 million barrels of oil (139 kg/barrel) of average composition CH2
- 1 billion tons of coal (1 ton = 1,000 kg) containing about 50% carbon
- 25 trillion cubic feet of natural gas (28.3 l/cu ft) with approximate composition CH4.

A) assuming all this carbon is converted to CO2, calculate how much CO2 America produces in a year from fossil fuels. An approach that can help is to recognize that for each type of fuel, the ratio of CO2 mass produced to the mass of fuel consumed is slightly different.  For oil (CH2), each mole of "CH2" (molar mass 14) produces a mole of CO2 (molar mass 44).  So each pound of oil results in 44/14 lbs CO2 .  Each fuel will have a different ratio due to its composition.
B) Assuming the area of the continental U.S. is 3 x 106 sq miles, and the mass of air is about 7 kg per square inch of earth surface, convert the amount of CO2 produced in part A to a concentration increase of CO2 in the atmosphere (assuming none of it is absorbed by other processes). please do it in steps.

Explanation / Answer

Total CO2 produced by america from fossil fuel

139*5*10^6*44/14 kg from CH2 and 1*10^9*10^3*50/100*44/12 from coal and 0.641 g/L (density of CH4)*28.3*25*10^12*44/14=1.427*10^15 kg

1 sq mile=4014489600 sq inch

so,mass of air=4014489600*3*10^6*7;

conc. of CO2 produced=1.427*10^15/(4014489600*3*10^6*7)=0.017 or 1.7 %

I hope this answers your query

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