The Cost Of Driving: 4 Tons Of Nature Per Mile

Readers discuss a recent study by University of Utah that found that the amount of gasoline needed by a reasonably efficient car to travel a single mile comes from 4 tons of prehistoric plant material.

1 minute read

October 28, 2003, 12:00 PM PST

By Abhijeet Chavan @http://twitter.com/legalaidtech


"A staggering 98 tons of prehistoric, buried plant material is required to produce each gallon of gasoline we burn in our cars, SUVs, trucks and other vehicles." For a reasonably efficient car, riding 25 miles per gallon, this translates to 4 tons of prehistoric plants per mile, or more than two tons per kilometer. The research paper also mentions that everyday, we are using the fossil fuel equivalent of all the plants growing during a whole year just for our cars."

Thanks to Abhijeet Chavan

Monday, October 27, 2003 in Slashdot

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