KS3 · Chemistry
Reducing greenhouse gas emissions
An electric car. A factory moved abroad. A quicker drive. They all sound greener. Do they cut emissions? One question sorts them out: where is the fuel actually burned?
Chemistry · Reducing emissions
Does it really cut emissions?
Pick an action, then decide which column it belongs in. Commit first, then read the reason.
Still to sort
Cuts emissions (0)
Less fuel ends up being burned, or the greenhouse gas is kept out of the air
Where the line is: The fuel burned really goes down. It hasn't just been moved somewhere you can't see.
Doesn't cut emissions (0)
The same fuel, or more, is still burned somewhere
Where the line is: The burning has only moved out of sight, or the action makes the car use more energy, not less.
Burning fuels releases greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide. Here are nine things people, drivers and companies might do. Some genuinely cut emissions. Some only look as if they do.
Chemistry · Cars and fuel
Where is this car's fuel burned?
Start at the top. Choose how the car is powered, then follow the route to the end.
How the car is powered → Where its electricity comes from
3 routes the fuel can take.
An electric car has no exhaust pipe. So does it cut emissions? Follow each route and find out. The answer depends on something you can't see from the driveway.
Carbon capture and storage
Step through what happens to the carbon dioxide from a factory chimney.
- SeparateThe carbon dioxide is separated from the other emissions, instead of going up the chimney into the atmosphere.
- CompressThe carbon dioxide is compressed (squashed) until it becomes a liquid.
- PumpThe liquid carbon dioxide is pumped into an old oil or gas reservoir.
- StoreIt is stored deep underground, so it doesn't add to the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
WHAT YOU'VE LEARNED
A quick recap of today's lesson.
Some actions that sound green don't cut greenhouse gases at all. Sort the actions below and see how many you call right before you're told why.
What you need to know
- Greenhouse gases include carbon dioxide, methane and water vapour. Carbon dioxide is contributing to global warming, so removing it from emissions helps to slow global warming.
- Burning fuels for transport produces greenhouse gases, other polluting gases and particulates.
- Ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions: use less energy; switch to renewable energy sources such as wind, solar and hydroelectricity; switch to electric vehicles and to electric heat pumps for heating and cooling buildings.
- Petrol and diesel cars burn fuel. Electric cars don't, but fuel may be burned to generate their electricity. An electric car charged from solar panels produces less greenhouse gas than a petrol car or an electric car charged from a gas power station.
- A vehicle causes emissions at every stage of its life: extracting resources, producing materials, manufacturing parts and the vehicle, and recycling or disposal. Not only when it's moving.
- Cars use more energy to travel 100 km if they are heavier or go faster (faster means more drag pushing back). They use less if their tyres are at the correct pressure. Walking and cycling cut emissions and improve your health.
- The UK's three biggest emitters are domestic transport (29%), buildings (20%, from heating and cooling) and industry. The energy industry's fuels are mostly burned in other sectors, where their emissions are counted.
- Industry can cut emissions with new processes, equipment that removes greenhouse gases from emissions, and laws. Moving manufacturing overseas does not reduce emissions, and may increase them.
- Carbon capture and storage: separate the carbon dioxide, compress it into a liquid, pump it into an old oil or gas reservoir, and store it deep underground. It cuts carbon dioxide but is very expensive.
The big picture
Burning fuels releases greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, which is contributing to global warming. So the key question for any action is: where is fuel being burned, and has this action really reduced the burning or only moved it? Using less energy, switching to renewable sources, electric vehicles and heat pumps, and new industrial processes all cut emissions. An electric car charged from a gas power station still causes fuel to be burned, every vehicle causes emissions across its whole life, and moving a factory overseas does not reduce emissions. Carbon capture and storage can cut carbon dioxide, but it is very expensive.
Key points
Worked example
Problem
A company makes bicycles in a UK factory that burns fuel. The manager has three plans to 'go green'. Plan A: move the factory to another country where the rules on emissions are weaker. Plan B: fit carbon capture and storage to the factory. Plan C: keep delivering the bikes by van, but tell the drivers to drive faster so each delivery takes less time. Which plan actually cuts greenhouse gas emissions? Explain each decision.
⚠ Watch out
Thinking an electric car produces no greenhouse gases at all. It burns no fuel itself, but fuel may be burned at the power station that generates its electricity, and every car causes emissions when it is made and when it is recycled or disposed of.
Memory hook
Follow the fuel. Ask: where is it burned now? An action only cuts emissions if less fuel ends up burned somewhere, not if the burning just moves out of sight.
Check yourself
Without looking back: name three greenhouse gases, explain why an electric car charged from a gas power station still causes emissions, and put the four steps of carbon capture and storage in order.
Flashcards
(15)Name three greenhouse gases.
Why is removing carbon dioxide from emissions a good thing?
What does burning fuel for transport produce?
An electric car burns no fuel. Why can it still cause greenhouse gas emissions while it is being used?
Which produces the least greenhouse gas: a petrol car, an electric car charged from a gas power station, or an electric car charged from solar panels?
Which stages of a vehicle's life cause greenhouse gas emissions?
Why does a car use more energy to travel 100 km at a higher speed?
Apart from speed, name two things that change how much energy a car uses to travel 100 km.
What are the UK's three biggest emitters of greenhouse gases?
Why are most greenhouse gas emissions from UK industry carbon dioxide?
The energy industry supplies fuels such as petrol and diesel. Where are the emissions from those fuels counted?
Give three ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from industry.
Why doesn't moving manufacturing overseas cut emissions?
What are the two big drawbacks of carbon capture and storage?
How can international agreements help the UK tackle climate change?
Tap any card to flip it, or use Study as deck to go through them one at a time. In the full lesson these run as a spaced-repetition deck — you rate each card Hard, Good or Easy and the tricky ones keep coming back until they stick.
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Keep me postedMore KS3 Chemistry topics
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- Changes of state: energy and evaporation
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- Chemical formulae and symbols
- Chromatography
- Combustion
- Composition of the atmosphere
- Compounds and their formation
- Conservation of mass and balanced equations
- Displacement of metals
- Dissolving
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