Global Climate Change and Cars

Procedure
  1. Count and record each car, make, model and year.
  2. Research and briefly explain the impact of each of the following on the environment. Site your sources
    1. Fuel Consumption
    2. Carbon Dioxide
    3. Carbon Monoxide
    4. Nitrogen Oxides
    5. Hydrocarbons
  3. Go to the US Department of Energy and US EPA's Fuel Economy Website
  4. Input each car (assume 15,000miles/year) and record the combined estimated fuel consumption and annual CO2 emissions. You may want to complete this chart in Excel.
    1. Car (assumes 15,000 miles/year)
      		 Annual fuel consumption (gallons)
      		 Annual carbon dioxide (CO2)
      		 Annual carbon monoxide (CO)
      		 Annual nitrogen oxides (NO2)
      		 Annual hydrocarbons (HC)
            
            

  5. After completing this chart, input the data using Excel to calculate a parking lot sample mean for fuel consumption and CO2 (the Excel spreadsheet must be submitted with your write-up). 
  6. To calculate CO2, use this EPA website
  7. Write-up
    1. Describe the potential areas of weakness in your conclusions (e.g. sampling, extrapolation, assumptions)
    2. Briefly describe what you would do next time to improve the results
    3. What are the environmental significance of your findings?
    4. Were you surprised by any of the car comparisons in your data? Explain.
    5. Briefly provide some appropriate policy recommendations to reduce car gas consumption and resultant air pollution.
google doc