PART I:  Open the "Low Carbon Diet" document from the resources folder. Take a closer look at pages 137-145. 

 

1. Carbon Dioxide (CO2), Nitrous Oxide (N20) and Methane (CH4) are all greenhouse gasses.  The author mentions that both Nitrous Oxide and Methane are more effective as greenhouse gasses than CO2.

 

a. How much more effective is N20 as a greenhouse gas than CO2?

It is 300 times more effective than CO2. 

b.  How much more effective is CH4 as a greenhouse gas than CO2?

It is 25% more potent than CO2.

2.  What is Carbon Dioxide Equivalent? (pg 139)

It is a measurement stating how much a gas does in comparison to a carbon dioxide level and tracks it using those units instead.

 

3.  Look at the table on page 140.  It shows the “Emissions Intensity“ of our food choices.  How many lbs of CO2 equivalent are produced for 1 lb of beef consumption? 

5.74 pounds are produced for 1 pound of beef.

 

4.  Page 144 states that the average American eats 270 lbs of beef in a year.  Use the table on page 140 to calculate the Carbon Dioxide Equivalent Emissions (lbs) of a single person eating 270 lbs of meat in a year.  (Your answer should be a number of lbs of CO2 equivalent)

1549.8 pounds of carbon dioxide are let off from 270 pounds of beef.

 

 

 

 

 

PART II:  Go to the EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculatorto give you some help understanding your answer from question 4. Once you open this calculator, go to Option 2. In the first line, enter your answer from question 4 (making sure to change the units to lbs). Answer the questions below using the Equivalency Results Summary:

 

 

5.     Consuming 270 lbs of red meat produces as much carbon dioxide as how many passenger vehicles?

It produces as much as 0.146 passenger vehicles.

 

6.     Consuming 270 lbs of red meat produces as much carbon dioxide as how many propane tanks for home barbeques?

 

It produces as much as 29.3 propane tanks.

 

PART III:   The calculations for questions 4, 5, & 6 are based on 1 American giving up beef.  You now need to project this to a larger audience. Follow the steps to generate your own statisticfor a different population (EX: 1 in 4 Americans, 20% of New York State citizens, every citizen of Malta, the family of every student at TEC-SMART)

 

 

STEP 1:  Choose YOUR OWN target population and show how you calculated it.

(EX: 1 in 4 TEC-SMART Students = 0.25 * 66 = 16.5 people not eating red meat)

 

1 in 10 americans = 0.10 * 313,900,000 = 31,390,000 americans not eating red meat

 

 

STEP 2:  Calculate the Carbon Dioxide Equivalent Emissions from this target audience not eating meat.

(EX: 16.5 * 270 lb of red meat * 5.74 lb CO2 = 25,571.7 lbs CO2)

 

31,390,000 * 270 lb of red meat * 5.74 lb CO2 = 48648222000 lbs CO2

 

 

STEP 3: Use the EPA Calculator to Convert this Carbon Dioxide Equivalent Emissions

(EX: 25,571.7 lbs CO2 Equivalent = 2.4 Passenger Vehicles)

(EX: 25,571.7 lbs CO2 Equivalent = 483 Propane Cylinders)

 

4,597,180 passenger vehicles

919,435,930 propcane cylinders