WHAT'S THE VOLUME OF CO2 PRODUCED WHEN A GALLON OF GASOLINE IS BURNED?

Question

The price of carbon has gone up to a dollar a pound at the gas station.

Answer 1

Makins some reasonable assumptions....

Gasoline can be thought of as octane C8H18

The balanced chemical equation for the combustion of octane is

2C8H18 + 25O2 --> 16CO2 + 18H2O

C8H18 has a molar mass of 114 g/mol

1 mol CO2 can be assumed to be 22.4 L = 5.92 gallons at St. Paul

C8H18 has a density of 0.703 g/ml

1 gallon = 3785 cm^3 = 3785 mL

So

1 gal C8H18 x 3785 mL C8H18 x 0.703 g C8H18 x 1 mol C8H18 x 16 mol CO2 x 5.92 gal CO2

1 gal C8H18 1 mL C8H18 114 g C8H18 2 mol C8H18 1 mol CO2

= 1,105 gallons of CO2 (at STP) is produced from 1 gallon of gasoline