Reducing electricity use is one of the best ways to combat global warming. That's because most of our electricity comes from coal-fired power plants, which emit millions of tons of carbon dioxide every year.
For people wondering how much carbon dioxide power plants emit to run their household appliances, the U.S. Department of Energy's Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center offers this handy formula.
Take the number of watts an appliance uses, multiply it by the hours it's used and divide the result by 1,000 to get the total number of kilowatt hours. Then multiply that number by the 1.3 pounds of carbon dioxide power plants emit for every kilowatt hour.
Here is an example: A 100-watt light bulb left on for 24 hours consumes 2,400 watts. Divide it by 1,000 and you get 2.4 kilowatt hours. Take 2.4 times 1.3 and you get 3.12 pounds of carbon dioxide for that one bulb.
The numbers quickly add up when you factor in how many days the bulb is left on in a month and a year. Other appliances use a lot more juice. A flat panel plasma TV, for example, can burn more than 350 watts, according to internet reviewer CNET.com.
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Reducing electricity use is one of the best ways to combat global warming. That's because most of our electricity comes from coal-fired power plants, which emit millions of tons of carbon dioxide every year.
For people wondering how much carbon dioxide power plants emit to run their household appliances, the U.S. Department of Energy's Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center offers this handy formula.
Take the number of watts an appliance uses, multiply it by the hours it's used and divide the result by 1,000 to get the total number of kilowatt hours. Then multiply that number by the 1.3 pounds of carbon dioxide power plants emit for every kilowatt hour.
Here is an example: A 100-watt light bulb left on for 24 hours consumes 2,400 watts. Divide it by 1,000 and you get 2.4 kilowatt hours. Take 2.4 times 1.3 and you get 3.12 pounds of carbon dioxide for that one bulb.
The numbers quickly add up when you factor in how many days the bulb is left on in a month and a year. Other appliances use a lot more juice. A flat panel plasma TV, for example, can burn more than 350 watts, according to internet reviewer CNET.com.
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