To put the measure in relation to something, here is an attempt to make this weight, quantity or activity understandable. It is possible to relate a ton of CO2 gas to almost anything!

According to the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency households in Sweden emit around 8 tons of carbon dioxide per person. Emissions come from traveling, heating our houses, using electricity, from the food we eat and the things we buy. We all need to get down to 1 tonne per person to meet the Paris Agreement's climate goals. Virtually everything we do and choose to spend money on has a climate impact. But how much is a ton of carbon dioxide?

The weight – one ton of carbon dioxide

A ton is a weight, it is 1000 kg. This may seem like a strange way to measure the amount of gas. After all, gases float around and don't feel very heavy at all. The air we breathe is an example of a gas that is a mixture of oxygen, nitrogen, argon, etc. But all gases have a weight, and it depends directly on the atoms that the gas contains. Carbon (C) and two oxygen (O2) together weigh 7.3 x 10^-23 grams per molecule. 1000 kg of carbon dioxide is equivalent:

- 1.38 x 10^28 CO2 molecules (apparently it is called "quadrillion" when there are 28 zeros after the number)

But in more understandable quantities, we can also say that it is equivalent to 1000 milk cartons, about 15 000 eggs or 5 times the world record in weightlifting (jerk, Iran from 2016).

Child's play: a simple experiment to show that gas has a weight. 

Volume – how much space does one ton of CO2 take up?

Since the emissions are in the form of gas (but colorless), we can visualize one ton of CO2 as a volume. Assuming normal conditions, one ton of CO2 in gaseous form fills about 545 cubic meters. This is equivalent to:

- A round hot air balloon with 10 meters in diameter

- Just over 4 lanes in the 25-meter pool

- Over 6500 moving boxes!

- Or 96 000 footballs in a pile.

- ...and to fill the ball would require 1100 tons.

The things we do – how long does it take to release one ton of carbon dioxide?

What is perhaps most relevant is not how much space or how heavy a ton is, but what choices it represents in everyday life. What am I doing that causes emissions, and what do I need to change to get down to 1 ton per year? Here are some measures.

Electronics

- Hair dryer - 20,000 hours if you have green electricity! Unfortunately only 2000 hours with "fulel"*.

- TV series: 70,000 seasons in front of the TV. But if you have a projector, that's only 18,500. NOTE! Here I only include the operation of the TV. Do you stream? Then it might be worth checking out Greenpeace analysis of your streaming services and how they work with renewable energy for their servers. Netflix is not a winner...

- Vacuuming - over 3000 hours of cleaning can be achieved with 1 ton of CO2.

Food? How do I eat up a ton of carbon dioxide...

- Beef - 36 kg

- Pork - 215 kg

- Quorn - 250 kg

- Chicken - 380 kg

- Lentils and beans - 1600 kg

- Rice, pasta, carbohydrates - 1250 kg

Life is a buffet! What would you choose if each ton of CO2 cost $1000?

I could also buy...

- 4 Macbook Air computers, if I use them for 4 years.

- 18 iPhone 7, if I use them for 3 years

- 30 by Levi jeans

If I get the urge to travel instead, I could go...

- 400 miles with my car (Umeå - Istanbul)

- 450 miles by planeStockholm - Monaco)

- 2900 miles by bus (more than half way around the world)

- 700 miles with my electric car

- 7000 miles by train

Cost per ton of carbon dioxide (CO2)

A ton of CO2 is also what is sequestered in a small tree (depending on the species of course), and is the amount that a certificate from a verified carbon offset project represents. So a ton has a cost. Some companies choose to set an internal price for a ton of CO2, which can range from 100 to 1000 SEK per ton. The average value according to the latest report from Green Biz and Trucost is about 300 SEK/tonne among these companies. In the future, the cost of a tonne is predicted to rise drastically, perhaps up to 1000 SEK/tonne.

What would you prioritize if the things I listed above were

be SEK 1000 more expensive?

*Estimated based on IEA energy mix Sweden, 2017

Sources:

Calculations based on emission factors for average activities, as far as possible, include life cycle perspectives and are geographically specified. The figures are intended to give an indicative view. Interested in more precise figures? Or to see the calculations here? Get in touch and we'll tell you.

This blog is a republication of a blog written in fall 2018.