I have a problem visualising 1 tonne of carbon dioxide. Firstly it is colourless, secondly it is usually a gas. So what sort of volume are we talking about?
Relative Molecular weight = 12 + 16 + 16 = 32 + 12 = 44 g / mol.
1 tonne of CO2 = 1000 × 1000 / 44 = 22727.27 moles
One mole of an ideal gas at STP occupies 22.4 litres (US liters).
Assuming CO2 is an ideal gas, approximate volume of 1 tonne of CO2 is 509090.9 litres = 5.1 ML (Megalitre).
5.1 ML = 5.09×106 × 0.001 = 509 m3
An olympic swimming pool is 50 m × 25 m × 2 m (minimum depth) = 2500 m3, so it would take 5 tonnes of gaseous CO2 to fill one.
Filed under: climate, CO2 emissions
