Environmental Impacts and Consequences
Simple Explanation
Burning fossil fuels releases carbon dioxide and other pollutants, contributing to the greenhouse effect, global warming, acid rain, and air pollution — consequences that scale directly with how much fuel is burned.
Why Do We Need It?
These consequences are the direct motivation behind the shift toward renewable energy — quantifying them shows exactly how energy choices connect to environmental outcomes.
Formula
Carbon Dioxide Emissions from Burning Fuel
m_CO2 = m_fuel × EF
The mass of carbon dioxide released by burning a fuel is proportional to the mass of fuel burned, scaled by that fuel's emission factor (how much CO2 each kilogram of fuel releases when burned).
- m_CO2
- — mass of carbon dioxide released, in kilograms (kg)
- m_fuel
- — mass of fuel burned, in kilograms (kg)
- EF
- — emission factor for that fuel, in kilograms of CO2 released per kilogram of fuel burned
When to use it: Whenever estimating the carbon dioxide emissions produced by burning a known mass of a particular fuel.
Worked Example
Find the CO2 emissions from burning coal
Find the mass of CO2 released by burning 1000 kg of coal, given an emission factor of 2.5 kg CO2 per kg of coal.
Why Does This Work?
An emission factor is, by definition, how much CO2 is released per kilogram of a specific fuel burned — so multiplying by the total mass of fuel burned scales that per-kilogram figure up to the total emissions.
Real-Life Example
A country's national carbon footprint
A country tracks its total annual CO2 emissions by combining the mass of every fossil fuel it burns — coal, oil, and natural gas — each with its own emission factor.
This same multiplication (mass of fuel × emission factor), summed across every fuel type, is exactly how national and global carbon emissions are estimated and reported.
Practice
Find the mass of CO2 released by burning 500 kg of petrol, given an emission factor of 3.15 kg CO2 per kg of petrol.
MediumCommon mistake
Assuming every fuel has the same emission factor — different fuels release different amounts of CO2 per kilogram burned (natural gas generally releases less than coal for the same energy produced), so the emission factor must match the specific fuel.
Quick Review
- m_CO2 = m_fuel × EF — emissions scale directly with fuel burned.
- Fossil fuel combustion drives the greenhouse effect, global warming, and acid rain.
- Different fuels have different emission factors.