Final Project Sci 275

Final Project Sci 275

Air Pollution-Final Project

SCI/275
The largest contributor to greenhouse gasses in the Unites States is the automobile.   Every year the automobile contributes to the air pollution we have in America and puts the oxygen levels for human beings in danger, the future of clean air and a depleted ozone from emissions is a massive threat for the future if we don’t find solutions now for our future generations. Finding alternative fuel sources for automobiles may be one of the solutions to curbing the emissions, thus decrease the ongoing degradation of our atmosphere. Automobiles are the first step in a laundry list of steps to save this planet from ultimate destruction in the future and the end to human life as we know it.
The main reason automobiles contribute such a large pollutant load is due to the petroleum based gasoline and diesel fuels that the cars use.   This fuel burns relatively inefficiently and pollutes through combustion and fuel evaporation.   Among the pollutants that are emitted during the combustion process are carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, hydrocarbons, particulate matter, and air toxins.   Theses toxins that are emitted are suspected of, or known to, cause cancer and other serious health or environmental problems. (EPA, 2009).
The carbon dioxide that is emitted by automobiles is linked to global warming and   also has many potential health and environmental effects.   Smog and acid rain are caused by nitrogen oxides from vehicle emissions as are hydrocarbons.   Carbon monoxide is a poisonous gas.   From the 550 gallons of gasoline that the average passenger car uses in one year, it produces 10,000 pounds of carbon dioxide, 606 pounds of carbon monoxide, 80 pounds of hydrocarbons, and 41 pounds of nitrogen oxides.   Alternative fuel sources would keep these pollutants out of our environment (EPA, 1997).
On Friday, April 17, 2009, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released the findings from a scientific review of...