Why do carbon dioxide emissions weigh more than the original fuel?
During combustion, each carbon atom in the fuel combines with two oxygen atoms in the air to make carbon dioxide. The addition of two oxygen atoms to each carbon atom forms carbon dioxide, which has an atomic weight of 44—roughly 3.6667 times the atomic weight of the carbon (12). For example, subbituminous coal is 51 percent carbon or 1,013 pounds per short ton. The carbon dioxide emissions from a short ton of subbituminous coal are approximately 3,716 pounds or about 3.67 times the weight of the coal’s carbon and 86 percent more than the original coal. Question: How much CO2 does the United States emit? Is it more than other countries? Answer: There are various ways to compare carbon dioxide emissions across countries including: total carbon dioxide emissions, carbon dioxide emissions per capita, and carbon dioxide intensity. The data below are for energy-related carbon dioxide emissions as EIA does not have comparative data for carbon dioxide emissions from industrial processes for a
