Oct 8, 2007

Does your soda and beer make the CO2 that causes Global Warming?

QUESTION:
How much CO2 is being released into the atmosphere from the soft drinks industry?
- Lets just suppose each 2 ltr bottle held 2 gms of CO2.
- 1 million bottles opened daily releasing 2 gms of CO2 into the atmosphere.
- 2 million gms of CO2 being released everyday = 2000 metric tonnes
- Over the course of a year = 730,000 tonnes

Are they really doing the world a favor or are they helping to destroy it?
ANSWER:
The carbon dioxide used in the drinks industry is not manufactured, but extracted from atmospheric air, as is medical oxygen. A perfect example of recycling at its best.
Globally, carbon dioxide (CO2) consumption has reached approximately 20 million tons per year, which is strictly dedicated to the so-called merchant market—food, beverage, chemical and industrial uses. From this grand total of CO2 consumption globally, North America consumes some 10 million tons per year in merchant CO2, of which the United States alone accounts for more than 8 million tons, and Canada less than 2 million tons.

Production of CO2 usually takes place near a relatively highly concentrated coproduct stream in ethanol plants. Given the growth in the ethanol industry, with new projects developing in—and beyond—the Corn Belt, ethanol has become the source type of choice in the United States. In fact, it is one of the nation's few new sources of CO2. This trend will likely continue with the growth in the CO2 industry.

Source: http://www.ethanol-producer.com/article.jsp?article_id=230