Jon Hilkevitch, Chicago Tribune transporation reporter, recently ran his own transportation options through CNT’s ground breaking emissions calculator TravelMatters.org. The result? When Hilkevitch commutes in his customized 1985 Nissan 300 ZX he emits 16 pounds of CO2. When he travels on the Purple Line he contributes just 5 pounds of CO2. “The demonstration made a point,” he concluded. “Each person in the U.S. is responsible for an average of 15,000 pounds of greenhouse gases emitted each year … Transportation does not account for the entire amount of the gases emitted, but it’s a big part.” For more information on TravelMatters, contact Lisa McNally.

Internet site calculates personal CO2 gas output

Jon Hilkevitch
January 19, 2004

If you are tired of counting calories, try watching your pardon! greenhouse gases instead, suggests a Chicago environmental group that promotes cleaner transportation options.

The Center for Neighborhood Technology has developed an online calculator to estimate the amount of carbon dioxide a person generates while traveling based on his or her transportation choices.

The Web site, www.travelmatters.org, may not alter your decision about what car to buy, but it might make you consider riding the train or bus to work more often, and to hop aboard a bicycle or walk on short trips instead of driving.

Getting Around, an equal-opportunity commuter whose travels include all of the above options depending on which makes the most sense, took the online emissions calculator for a spin.

First, I went to the rail transit section and entered 13 miles as the distance I commute on the Chicago Transit Authority’s Purple Line/Evanston Express from the South Boulevard stop in Evanston to the Grand Avenue station downtown, from there a short walk to Tribune Tower.

The result: 5 pounds of carbon dioxide emitted.

I then repeated the drill, but this time entered my personal “summer” vehicle, a customized 1985 Nissan 300 ZX turbo-charged muscle car with a drop top dubbed “The Chick Magnet” by a buddy in Albuquerque who sold it to me.

The result: 16 pounds of carbon dioxide belched into the environment.

Did the calculation shock and awe me into putting the “Z” car onto blocks with plans to leave it in the garage, where come warmer weather I will only visit it and lovingly stroke the turbo vent on the hood? Nope.

But the demonstration made a point. Each person in the U.S. is responsible for an average of 15,000 pounds of greenhouse gases emitted each year, according to the Center for Neighborhood Technology. Transportation does not account for the entire amount of the gases emitted, but it’s a big part.

Carpoolers, bikers, walkers and even frequent fliers can also go to the www.travelmatters.org site and plug in the number of miles they travel. The resulting CO2 levels are then compared to how many 20-pound bags of charcoal briquettes would be burned, and how many sugar maple trees would need to be planted to clean the air of the pollutants.

It provides food for thought about shedding some carbon dioxide pounds. Just don’t ask me to stop barbecuing too.

Read recent Getting Around columns at www.chicagotribune.com/go/gettingaround.

Copyright c 2004, Chicago Tribune

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 20th, 2004 at 2:20 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.