CO2 Output from gas turbine.

[Quoted on Dec. 6th 2000 @ Hansen Hall, Pt. Alberni].

750,000.00       Tons per year
    2,054.79      Tons per Day.
         85.62    Tons per Hour
           1.43   Tons per Minute

                  There is 2,000 lbs per Ton
                  therefore:
750,000.00 times 2,000 = 1,500,000,000.00 Lbs of CO2 per Year.
    2,054.79 times 2,000 =        4,109,589.04 Lbs of CO2 per Day.
         85.62 times 2,000 =           171,232.88 Lbs of CO2 per Hour.
           1.43 times 2,000 =               2,853.88 Lbs of CO2 per Minute.

         There is 0.12342 Lbs of CO2 per Cu. ft. of CO2
         Therefore:
1,500,000,000.00 divided by 0.12342 = 12,153,621,779.29 Cu. ft. of CO2 per Year.
       4,109,589.04 divided by 0.12342 =        33,297,593.92 Cu. ft. of CO2 per Day.
          171,232.88 divided by 0.12342 =        1,387,399.75 Cu. ft. of CO2 per Hour.
           2,853.88 divided by 0.12342 =               23,123.33 Cu. ft. of CO2 per Minute.
Four turbines on Vancouver Island = 4 times 12,153,621,779.29 = 48,614,487,117.16 Cu. ft. of CO2 per year!
         The above Deadly volumes of CO2 = 100% of Normal Air.
         Normal concentrations of  CO2 = 0.033% of Normal Air.

         I sat down and calculated these figures trying to find out the amount of CO2 in Cu. ft. that was being emitted by these turbines.  The only figure supplied to me was the 750,000.00 Tons per Year. Hydro seemed reluctant to give this number out. It wasn't in any of their glossy brochures. It is kind of scary that these amounts of CO2 ,( 12,153,621,779.29 Cu. ft. of CO2 per year!),
Yes, that is aprox 12 Billion Cu. ft.!!, plus Paper Mill CO2, just in the Alberni Valley!,
plus other pollutants as CO and NOx will be emitted into a valley that is enclosed with surrounding mountains like a bowl. CO2 is heavier than air and will lay in enclosed low laying areas when inversion conditions are right.  I believe in the old coal mining days the miners called this deadly gas "Black Damp".  It was a killer under ground.  Hence the use of Canaries to detect the gas. If they died, you got out fast before you died. And this valley is known for having many smoggy inversions which have been known to have a severe rotten egg smell and a fallout of particulate matter from the industry already present in this valley.  There has to be a better way to generate electricity and create a few specilized steam engineering jobs, (that probably will not go to Alberni district residents), than polluting the air we ultimately breath and the water we ultimately drink. At the same time Depleting our Non- renewable resources and contributing to the greenhouse gases at a staggering rate. What will be our legacy for future generations who will have to live with what we do now?  With the private sector owning and controlling the gas and the price thereof. Therefore controlling the price of our electricity which will be dependant on their gas.  This looks to me like the first step in privatising our public electrical utility and selling it off to whomever has the bucks to buy it. We all know what is happening in California.  Do we really want that to happen here? Four turbines on Vancouver Island = 4 times 12,153,621,779.29 = 48,614,487,117.16
Cu. ft. of CO2 per year!  Yes, that is aprox 49 Billion Cu. ft.!!.
Add two more of these turbines, one in the Vancouver and one in Washinton State brings the CO2 to 73 Billion Cu. ft. per year in the Fraser Valley/Vancouver Island area.

There is 5.57 tones of CO2 per year produced by a single car. Therefore:
Four turbines equal the CO2 per year output of 538,599.65 cars.
That is 5.3 Hundred, Thousand cars!! 
Or for six turbins = 8.08 Hundred, Thousand cars!!  (We should all buy small, less gas guzzling, nonpolluting cars. Right. That's what we are told). Why are these turbines OK?


If this amount of CO2 does not alarm you then think of it this way.
It takes 4,545,454,545,454.55 Cu. ft. of air to diffuse the CO2 to .033% to make normal breathable air from one turbine.  That's 4.5 Trillion Cu. ft. per year.
For four turbine. It's 147.3 Trillion Cu. ft.
For six turbine.  It's 220.97 Trillion Cu. ft. !!!

No wonder the Asthma rates are up! No wonder we have Global Warming! No wonder the Icecaps are melting! etc. etc.

         The Electrical Utilities should be building electrical generation plants from Renewable resources that are not burners of hydrocarbons, that are environmentally friendly, that do not pollute.  They should be spending the money to do the construction as of yesterday! The technology is available and proven.  Tomorrow is too late!

Short term Gain equals Long term Pain.
Short term Pain equals Long term Gain.
10-20% spending on electrical generation plants from Renewable resources that are not burners of hydrocarbons, that are environmentally friendly, that do not pollute is not enough.  The 10% should go on gas back up generation and the rest on electrical generation plants from Renewable resources that are not burners of hydrocarbons, that are environmentally friendly, that do not pollute.

Why is no one talking about the amount of CO2 going into the atmosphere from these gas burning turbines??


Hope the math is OK
Sincerely W. G. Windley

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