Via James I came across this hi-res map of the continental US colour coded by CO2 emissions generated by a team out of Purdue University.
From the site’s About page:
The Vulcan Project is a NASA/DOE funded effort under the North American Carbon Program (NACP)to quantify North American fossil fuel carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions at space and time scales much finer than has been achieved in the past. The purpose is to aid in quantification of the North American carbon budget, to support inverse estimation of carbon sources and sinks, and to support the demands posed by the launch of the Orbital Carbon Observatory (OCO)scheduled for 2008/2009. The detail and scope of the Vulcan CO2 inventory has also made it a valuable tool for policymakers, demographers and social scientists.
Here is the map (red is bad!) and the units are log base 10 of metric tonnes of carbon/100km2/year.
The map and the video below show that CO2 emissions, although closely aligned with population centres, does display some notable exceptions like the Gulf Coast refining/manufacturing and Midwest manufacturing areas.
The team have started the even more ambitious project Hestia whose stated aim is to:
Hestia will quantify, simulate and visualize the metabolism of global industrial economic activity
in other words, do what Project Vulcan has done but on a global scale!
There is an old maxim that you can’t manage something until you can measure it. Hestia, if successful, will prove invaluable in managing global CO2 emissions.
2 Comments
Its a genius idea because it gives us something to aim for, like a doctor identifying an ulcer and then working at reducing its visibility over time. Dangerously similar to an idea I threw out a few weeks ago - check it out here - http://tinyurl.com/3lzdoh
We at Georgetown Utilities have a new patent product (MECS) which makes the Natural Gas more Efficent and Reduces the Consumption of Natural Gas an appliance (Furnace, Hot water tank, Commercial and Industrial heating equipment)uses by 20%. By making more Natural Gas molocules burn there is less Carbon Emissions, lower natural gas bills and more profit. ROI is 18 months or less, We have been doing this in Michigan since 2003 and we want to reduce the Carbon Emission and help our planet, but we need to install our product in homes and businesses in 49 other states in the USA ,To REALLY make a differance.
Can someone help us to do this??
RAFAEL ENRIQUEZ
georgetownutilities.com
One Trackback
[…] Greenbang on Sun Microsystems’ open eco - a very nifty site that helps organisations track and measure their greenhouse gas emissions. Similarily, Tom Raftery’s Lower (Carbon) Footprint discusses the NASA Vulcan Project to Map CO2 Emmmissions. […]