Environmentally-related (2007)
From AnchorQuantitiesExercise
On the detail pages you will find the full submission by the student and, in some cases, comments/additions to the submission. 2.009 students and staff, please feel free to add your own improvements/comments. If you come across a new, useful anchor you can add it (carefully) to the appropriate category and table.
Anchor categories: paper consumption, food, human, petroleum & fuel, waste & recycling, electricity generation, building energy, household & consumer products, transportation, water use, material production
[edit] PAPER CONSUMPTION
| Anchor Quantity |
Value | Unit | |
| number of 500 page reams of 20 lb paper in a tree | 12.9 - 23.5 | reams/tree | details |
| number of textbooks sold annually in the US | 85,000,000 | books/year | details |
| percent of textbook sales in the US that are used textbooks | 28.8 | % of total sales | details |
| the number of trees used to print all the Harry Potter books | 4-6 million | trees | details |
| number of trees saved by printing Cradle-to-Cradle on synthetic paper | ~ 100 | trees | details |
| number of trees used to build an average stick-built US home | ~ 65 | trees/stick-built home | details |
| number trees saved if new houses in the US built last year used bamboo flooring instead of wood flooring | ~18 million | trees | details |
| amount of paper used in the US each year | 90.4 billion | kg/year | details |
| amount of paper used each year in US for junk mail | 3.6 billion | kg/year | details |
| percentage of all paper that is recycled in the US | 50 | percent | details |
| the cost to buy a book in comparison to the cost to print an electronic version | 1.31 | $/$ | details |
| energy used to make and distribute a paper plate | ~ 700,000 | J | details |
| amount of wood used for coffins each year in the US | 7.5e7 4,200,000 |
kg/year board feet/year |
details |
| amount of cardboard used by Amazon for shipping | not completed | details | |
| amount of cardboard used for pizza boxes in the US | not completed | details | |
| how many paper coffee cups does Starbucks use each year | 2.3 billion 890,000 |
cups/year tons/year |
details |
| how many paper coffee cups does Dunkin' donuts use each year | 990 million 150 million |
cups/year kg/year |
details |
[edit] FOOD
| Anchor Quantity |
Value | Unit | |
| number of people can be fed by the grain consumed by a cow each year | 5 | people/cow fed | details |
| number of people that can be fed over one year by eating the meat from one cow | 11 | people/cow/year | details |
| amount of CO2 emitted to produce 1 kg of beef | 2200 | tonnes | details |
| amount of CO2 emitted to produce 1 kg of tofu | 1600 | kg | details |
| cooking oil saved if McDonalds baked their fries instead of frying them | 1.5 billion | liters | details |
| energy used to bake fries compared to energy used to deep-fry them | 0.045 | none (ratio) | details |
| energy used to deep fry French fries | 7300 | kJ/kg | details |
| in ~2006, what percentage of world grain production was used for animal feed | 37 | percent | details |
| amount of food wasted by restaurants in the US | 140 million | kg / day | details |
| amount of lunch wasted by a typical elementary school in the US | 8530 | kg/school/year | details |
| how much food does the average person in the US consume | 885 | kg/year | details |
| how much food does the average person in the world consume | 819 | kg/year | details |
| amount of food consumed by pets each year in the US | 8.5 million | kg | details |
| amount of pesticides used to grow vegetables in the US | 1,200 million | pounds | details |
| cost to ship corn to Boston from Florida compared to MA grown corn | not completed | details | |
| how many days does non-locally grown produce spend in transit before arriving at grocery store | 2-3 | days/item | details |
| how many days does locally grown produce spend in transit | 1/6 | day | details |
| how many miles does food travel on average from farm to table | 1500 | miles | details |
| how many cows in the US produce milk for making Mozzarella cheese, the#1 cheese in US | 1.675 million | cows | details |
| amount of methane release by a dairy cow in one day | 480 | liters/cow/day | details |
[edit] HUMAN
| Anchor Quantity |
Value | Unit | |
| world's average life expectancy of a human in 1950 | 48.5 | years | details |
| world's average life expectancy of a human in ~2007 | 70 | years | details |
| percentage of the population allergic to soy-based ink | 0.1 to 0.2 | percent | details |
| power output a person can sustain for 60 seconds | 370 | Watts | details |
| power output a person can sustain for 2 hours | 100-150 | Watts | details |
[edit] PETROLEUM & FUEL
| Anchor Quantity |
Value | Unit | |
| amount of oil consumed in the US each day | 82.59 million | barrels/day | details |
| amount of oil consumed in the world each day | not completed | details | |
| percent of world oil consumption used for transportation | 61 | percent | details |
| percent of world oil consumption used for plastics | 7-8 | percent | details |
| barrels of oil used each year to make plastic bottles | not completed | details | |
| gallons of oil saved by printing the NY times on soy-based ink rather than oil-based ink | 305,000 - 427,000 | gallons/year | details |
| crude oil used to produce 1 gallon of ethanol for fuel compared to crude oil used to produce 1 gallon of gasoline | 2.2 1.76 |
gal crude per gal of gasoline gal crude per gal of ethanol |
details |
| in ~2007, what percentage of the US grain production is used to produce alcohol for fuel | 25.5 | percent | details |
| relative greenhouse gas potential of methane in comparison to CO2 | 72 | times | details |
[edit] WASTE & RECYCLING
| Anchor Quantity |
Value | Unit | |
| what percentage of plastic deposits are redeemed in MA | 68.6 (overall, not just plastic) |
% | details |
| what percentage of US municipal waste is recycled | 32.1 (in 2005) |
% | details |
| what percentage of US municipal waste is potentially recyclable | 72 | % | details |
| what percentage of aluminum cans in the US are recycled | 45 | % | details |
| what percentage of plastic bottles in the US are recycled | 32 | % | details |
| what percentage of US plastic grocery bags are recycled | 5.2 | % | details |
| the amount of plastic bags used in the US each year | > 380 billion | plastic bags, sacks, and wraps | details |
| the number of plastic bottles that would be saved if all cotton T-shirts sold in the US were made from recycled plastic | 22.4 billion | bottles/year | details |
| energy saved by making a T-shirt out of recycled plastic in comparison to virgin cotton | not completed | details | |
| amount of residential solid waste produced by a person in the US | 414 - 490 | kg/year | details |
| compare the time needed for paper and plastic bags to biodegrade | Paper: 2-5 Plastic Bags: 10-20 |
Paper: months Plastic Bags: years |
details |
| compare the time needed for leather shoes and nylon fabric to biodegrade | Leather Shoes: 25-40 Nylon Fabric: 30-40 |
years | details |
| compare the time needed for plastic bottle and glass bottles to biodegrade | Glass bottle: 1,000,000 Plastic bottle: 1,000 |
years | details |
| amount of landfill reduced if 10% of new laptops were made of recyclable bamboo | 20,000 - 50,000 | tons/year | details |
| amount of annual landfill occupied by old computers | 223,500 | tons/year | details |
| number of times Killian court would be filled by cell phones discarded in the US each year | 24.5 | Killian Courts | details |
| in area, how many Killian courts would be covered by the Styrofoam lunch containers used on campus each day | 0.04 | Killian Courts | details |
| amount of clothing/fabric that is landfilled in the US | 9 million | tons/year | details |
| amount of disposable diapers landfilled each year in the US | 10,036,000,000 | disposable diapers | details |
[edit] ELECTRICITY GENERATION
| Anchor Quantity |
Value | Unit | |
| total electricity generation capacity in the US | 1,067,010 | MW | details |
| amount of installed wind-powered electricity generation in the US | 3,248 | MW | details |
| amount of coal and oil powered electricity generation in the US | 243,800 | MW | details |
| number of people killed, world-wide, mining coal each year | 5,932 | people/year | details |
| amount of hydro-powered electricity generation in the US | 30,859 | MW | details |
| amount of photovoltaic electricity generation in the US | 112 | MW | details |
| amount of CO2 released to provide a megawatt hour of electricity using coal | 1 (from operational phase of plant) |
tons/MWh | details |
| amount of C02 released to provide a megawatt hour of electricity using wind power | 0.0017 - 0.005 (over life cycle of turbine) |
tons/MWh | details |
| amount of CO2 released to provide a megawatt hour of electricity using hydro power | 0.04 (from operational phase of plant) |
tons/MWh | details |
| amount of CO2 released to provide a megawatt hour of electricity using nuclear power | .01874 (over life cycle of plant) |
tons/MWh | details |
| number of years for a solar panel to recover the energy used to produce it | 3-4 (depending on technology) |
years | details |
[edit] BUILDING ENERGY
| Anchor Quantity |
Value | Unit | |
| amount of energy consumed in a typical household in Northern US | 2613 - 2857 | kWh/mo | details |
| amount of energy consumed in a typical household in Southern US | 13,763 | kWh/year | details |
| amount of energy saved by lowering a Northern US house's thermostat 1 degree Celsius in winter | 720-900 | kWh/winter | details |
| amount of energy saved by raising a Southern US house's thermostat 1 degree Celsius in summer | 1500 | kWh per summer per household | details |
| amount of energy used for HVAC in a 4000 square foot home compared to a 1000 square foot home | 4.2-6/1 | kW hrs/kW hrs | details |
| average home size in the US in 1950 and today | 983 (1950), 2,434 (2005) | sq. ft. | details |
| amount of energy consumed in a large office building in one day | 16020 | kWh/day | details |
| amount of energy consumed by a typical US residential water heater | not completed | details | |
| energy saved in a typical office building by using motion sensor night lights vs ones that are on all night | 84,000 | kWh | details |
| amount of energy used by neon lights in Las Vegas | 3,400,000 | kWh/year | details |
[edit] HOUSEHOLD & CONSUMER PRODUCTS
| Anchor Quantity |
Value | Unit | |
| number of CDs saved by people buying music on iTunes | 35,000,000 | CDs/year | details |
| number of CDs made each year | 3,622,991,200 | CDs | details |
| energy used to wash a plate in a dishwasher | 267,100 | J/plate | details |
| relative power of lighting-equivalent incandescent bulb to a compact florescent bulb | 2.9:1 to 5.0:1 | incandescent(W):florescent(W) | details |
| relative power of lighting-equivalent incandescent bulb to a LED array bulb | 5.46:1 | incandescent(W): LED array(W) | details |
| payback period for converting a US house from incandescent to compact fluorescent light bulbs | 8 | months | details |
| energy saved if all Christmas lights were changed from incandescent to LED in the US | 6-7 x 10^15 1.8 x 10^9 - 2 x 10^9 |
J/year kWh/year |
details |
| average amount of energy used annually by a residential refrigerator in the US | 1500 | kWh/year | details |
| energy saved per year if the average refrigerator sold had the energy use of an average energy star compliant refrigerator | 800 Million | KWh/year | details |
| energy saved if all tube TVs in the US were replaced by LCD televisions | 17 | TWh/yr | details |
| amount of pesticides used on lawns in the US | 74 million | kg/yr | details |
| how much energy would be saved if people watched 2 hours fewer of TV each day in the US | 44.56 Million | kWhr | details |
| total amount of energy used each day in the US by television sets | 1.452*10^8 | kWhr | details |
[edit] TRANSPORTATION
| Anchor Quantity |
Value | Unit | |
| number of miles driven by a typical US family vehicle | 12,000 | miles/year | details |
| production automobile/SUV/light truck for sale in the US with the best fuel economy | 60/51 | MPG highway/city Prius |
details |
| production automobile/SUV/light truck for sale in the US with the worst fuel economy | 13/8 | MPG highway/city Lamborghini |
details |
| amount of fuel saved by changing a 10 mpg pickup to a 11 mpg vehicle | 106 | gallons/yr | details |
| amount of fuel saved by changing a 100 mpg automobile to a 200 mpg automobile | 120 | gallons/yr | details |
| number of automobiles per Adult in the US | ~1 | automobiles/adult | details |
| number of automobiles per Adult in the world | 0.17 | automobiles/adult | details |
| payback time for an average consumer to recover the additional cost of a Honda Civic hybrid in comparison to a similar, non-hybrid Civic | ~12 | years | details |
| improvement in 4 passenger vehicle's mileage if each occupant were 40 pounds lighter | 0.35-0.7 | mpg | details |
| amount of fuel used to drive to LA compared to flying | 30 65 |
gallons/passenger gallons/passenger |
details |
| fuel consumption of a top-fuel drag racer | 0.04 | mpg | details |
| percentage of people that carpool to work each day | 10.2 | percent (in the US) | details |
[edit] WATER USE
| Anchor Quantity |
Value | Unit | |
| amount of water used flushing toilets each day in the US | 5.8 billion | gallons/day | details |
| amount of water that would be saved annually in the US if toilets flushed only twice per day | 12.6 billion | gallons/day | details |
| energy saved by not running the water while brushing your teeth | 4.5 | J | details |
| water that might be saved in the US by using sink waste water to flush toilets | 13,800-27,700 | liters/year | details |
| amount of water used for non-farming irrigation in Los Angeles | 1.4 x 10^11 |
litres/year | details |
| amount of water used for a 3 minute shower with a low-flow shower head | 22.7 to 28.4 | liters | details |
| amount of water used in an average shower in the US | ~35-80 | gallons/shower | details |
| amount of energy used for an average shower in the US | ~10,000,000 | Joules/shower | details |
[edit] MATERIAL PRODUCTION
| Anchor Quantity |
Value | Unit | |
| amount of energy to produce a kilogram of virgin aluminum | ~15 | kWhr/kg | details |
| amount of energy used to produce a kilogram of recycled aluminum (J/kg) | not completed | details |
