When a hydrocarbon fuel is burned, almost all of the carbon in the fuel burns completely to form CO2 (carbon dioxide). On average, 0.59 kg of CO2 is produced for each kWh of electricity generated from a power plant that burns natural gas. A typical new household refrigerator uses about 700 kWh of electricity per year. A city's refrigerators produce 20,650 mton CO2/year (50,000 households in the city). If the area of the city is 190 miles2, and if all that CO2 accumulates in the atmosphere, calculate the increase in CO2 concentration by weight in the atmosphere knowing that each cm2 of area carries a column of air that weighs 1 kg. If 1 mature tree absorbs 48 lbm of CO2 per year, what is the ratio of trees to households this city should have to counter the effect of refrigeration?
When a hydrocarbon fuel is burned, almost all of the carbon in the fuel burns completely to form CO2 (carbon dioxide). On average, 0.59 kg of CO2 is produced for each kWh of electricity generated from a power plant that burns natural gas. A typical new household refrigerator uses about 700 kWh of electricity per year. A city's refrigerators produce 20,650 mton CO2/year (50,000 households in the city).
If the area of the city is 190 miles2, and if all that CO2 accumulates in the atmosphere, calculate the increase in CO2 concentration by weight in the atmosphere knowing that each cm2 of area carries a column of air that weighs 1 kg. If 1 mature tree absorbs 48 lbm of CO2 per year, what is the ratio of trees to households this city should have to counter the effect of refrigeration?
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