What is CO2 … Lower Carbon footprint?

22 09 2008

I thought it might be worth writing, just for the sake of free information, (very simply) what CO2 is and how it is formed.

And also, seeing as this is a blog dedicated to saving fuel by using hydrogen as well as fuel, with the knock on effect of lowering your carbon footprint, then it seems pretty relevant to me!

What is CO2?

CO2 is the chemical symbol for carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas. Greenhouse gases are the gases present in the Earth’s atmosphere that stop heat escaping into space, keeping the planet warm enough for life. CO2 is probably the most significant of the greenhouse gases as it accounts for the largest proportion of the ‘trace gases’ in the atmosphere. It is thought that it’s been in the atmosphere for over 4 billion of the Earth’s 4.6 billion year geological history.

How is it created?

Atmospheric CO2 comes from a number of natural sources, mainly the decay of plants, volcanic eruptions and as a waste product of animal respiration.

It is removed from the atmosphere by dissolving in water (especially the surface of oceans) and through photosynthesis in plants. This is when plants use light energy, CO2, and H2O to make sugar.

The amount of CO2 taken out of the atmosphere is almost perfectly balanced with the amount put back into the atmosphere by respiration and decay. Small changes as a result of human activities can have a large impact on this delicate balance.

Why have CO2 levels increased over the last two hundred years?

Since the Industrial Revolution we have burnt fossil fuels to provide our light, heat and to run our cars. The trouble is that when we burn fossil fuels, we release CO2 into the atmosphere.

This has resulted in the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere increasing by more than 30%.

The best case scenario for the increase in CO2 emissions predicts that the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere will reach double the level of before the Industrial Revolution, in 2100. The worst case scenario brings this forward to 2045.

What happens if there is too much carbon in the atmosphere?

If there is too much CO2 in the atmosphere it increases the “greenhouse effect”, trapping heat that would normally escape into the atmosphere. This causes the planet to heat up, which is believed to be the cause of climate change. Climate change is widely predicted to have a devastating impact upon the planet and people around the world.

What is your carbon footprint?

A carbon footprint is a measure of the impact our activities have on the environment in terms of the amount of greenhouse gases we produce. It is measured in units of CO2.

The average person’s carbon footprint in the UK is 9,400 kg, that’s nearly nine and half tonnes!

What causes a tonne of CO2?

* Driving a car 3,000 miles
* Two return flights to Moscow
* Travelling by train from London to Edinburgh 28 times.

So what can I do to actively reduce my CO2 emissions?

I’m not talking about in your home or by farting less I’m talking about the CO2 your vehicle is pumping out the entire time you’re driving it.

First of all you can read my post about reducing your fuel consumption by driving differently – ***here***

Then you can find out more about fitting a hydrogen generator into your vehicle which will ultimately make your engine combust the fuel it uses more completely, so there is almost no wasted fuel!

This means that you will get better gas mileage as your engine uses less fuel AND your vehicle will have lower emissions – meaning that you’re lowering your carbon footprint!

You can find more information about building your own hydrogen generator in this blog (just click on the archives to the right of this post) … or …

If you’re already convinced that hydrogen is the way forward and you want to start saving money and fuel today then follow the link below for more information!

GIVE ME A HYDROGEN GENERATOR NOW

Thanks for reading,

Robbie

ECOHHO.com

Reference EDF energy – savenowsavetomorrow.com




FULL TANK -HHO FUEL- TEST COMPLETE! VERY HIGH MPG!

4 08 2008

Hello world!

The full tank test on my Vauxhall Combo 1.7ltr Diesel Van is complete!

WOO HOO!

Unfortunately my video camera is playing up for some unknown reason and I can’t get the footage from it to make a video. However I will get round to fixing that and I will have the video of me breaking down and running out of fuel and my final distance reading. But for now I have a picture of my dials showing you my empty tank and the amount of miles I went on it.

So before I fitted my fuel cell I was getting around 380 miles to tank which is roughly 35mpg which in a van with a full load isn’t to bad. After fitting my fuel cell I did an initial test around town to get a glimpse of the improvement and I jumped up to 48MPG – an improvement of 13mpg or 143 per tank. That was tested by driving around town for a couple hours and the filling back up.

But I wanted a true reading of how much fuel I was actually saving.

So what I did was fill the entire tank with fuel until I could see it gurgling up and almost coming out – it took 50 litres of diesel. I then drove normally – without emptying my van of rubbish or changing anything – until my tank was completely empty, I mean bone dry! I had a fuel can with me when it started to get into the red so when I did break down I would be prepared. This took almost three weeks! I went on a couple motorway drives totaling around 150 miles and the rest was mainly around town driving to and from work etc.

What was the final reading?

I did 540.0 miles on ONE TANK OF FUEL.

540 miles of driving normally, up hills, down hills, stopping and starting at traffic lights etc. That’s a lot of driving!

So lets do the math:

1 Imperial gallon = 4.54609188 litres

50 litres / 4.54609188 =10.9984579 gallons per tank

540 miles per tank / 10.9984579 = 49.0977922 miles per gallon

In dash display showing final full tank test reading

In dash display showing final full tank test reading

49.1 miles per gallon! 49.1 MPG!

HOW GOOD IS THAT!

35mpg is what I used to get and now I get 49.1mpg!

It’s official, I couldn’t go any further on that tank of fuel and I couldn’t go any less – I BROKE DOWN, I COMPLETELY RAN OUT OF FUEL TO GET THAT READING.

I’m sure it’s not good for the engine to do that but never mind as I now get 49.1 mpg!

That’s a huge saving on both my money and my fuel – and it all came from one little container of water in my engine bay – amazing!

So how far is 540 miles? Lets use a practical example of how far that actually is:

It takes 533 miles to go from Paignton in the south west of England (where I live) to DUNDEE IN SCOTLAND

It is 533 miles from Paignton to Dundee

It is 533 miles from Paignton to Dundee

That means that I can go literally from one end of the country to another on ONE TANK OF FUEL!

(If you don’t know what Easyjet is then it’s a low price airline here in the UK)

I say literally because that is just the distance, this doesn’t take into account the probability of getting into lots and lots of traffic and probably going over the speed limit both of which will waste fuel. But it’s good just as an idea of how far 540 miles actually is!

So there you have it – 540 miles on one tank of fuel with my HHO fuel cell running. I am very happy with the results!

This post will be updated with a video once I get my camera sorted out – so keep watch!

If you want to build your own Hydrogen Fuel Cell so you can get better gas mileage by using water as fuel then check out my website:

http://www.ecohho.com

Thanks for reading!

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HHO Generator – boom boom – oops :-/

3 07 2008

HHO Generator is running great!

I’m really starting to notice a difference in the engine performance – it sounds nicer and seems to go faster!

Had a minor slip up today though. I have the HHO cell wired into it’s own switch and not the ignition (something I will rectify when I have the time) and I keep leaving the thing running! I went to work this morning and forgot to turn it off – this was 9am – when I got back and started the engine there was a massive bang and a funny smell, just like what hydrogen smells like when I’ve tested burning it.

The excess gas had ignited somewhere in the air intake where it is being pumped and just made a massive high pitched bang. Very scary stuff. I checked everything though and nothing seems to have broken and thankfully the HHO generator is fine!

Don’t leave your generator running without the HHO being used up kids!

Thanks for reading!

http://www.ecohho.com

My site was nominated for Best Hobby Blog!

Our blog has been nominated for a Blogger’s Choice Award!

Help us out by clicking on the button above and voting for our blog!

Thanks a bunch!