What does a tonne of CO2 look like anyway?

Posted: 01 July 2010

Have you ever wondered what a tonne of CO2 actually looks like? Yes, CO2 is a clear, colourless gas, and it might seem like an odd question to ask. There is an ‘elephant in the room’ with this question; the CO2 emissions in the UK are excessive, and it is important to be able to visualise what we are pumping into the atmosphere.

We’re in luck. In both the USA and Denmark, physical models have been set up to show the public the visual weight of CO2 emissions. Dave Ames, a science teacher at Cohasset High School in Massachusetts, built a large cube with his 9th grade physics class. In Copenhagen, Alfie Bonanno and Christophe Cornubert installed a similar cube for the December Climate Summit. Both cubes are 27 by 27 by 27 feet, or 9 by 9 by 9 metres. But how does this fit with each of us? In the UK, each person emits ten of these cubes per year!

To manage our personal emissions, we should only emit two cubes of CO2/year. Recently, at our National Sustainable Schools Conferences, we calculated that each day conference produced over two tonnes of CO2. Put more simply, that’s the weight of the average Asian elephant. So, there was not just one elephant in the room in Bristol or London– there were two!

Related Links:

inhabitat.com/2009/12/05/one-ton-co2-cube-to-be-dropped-on-copenhagen/

energyrace.com/commentary/what_does_a_ton_of_co2_look_like/

climatechangewales.org.uk/public/?id=112