carbon or carbon dioxide ??

[Gill Catton]

Can someone explain to me why when its CO2 that's causing problems in the atmosphere people keep referring to carbon?

Its leaving me more and more confused - when they're talking for example about carbon trading, reduced carbon footprint or lower carbon emissions do they mean CO2 ?

It grates on me everytime its used because I don't know what they mean - is it lazy media speak Or is the carbon / carbondioxide thing inextricably linked? As in where there's carbon there's carbon dioxide? As in if you use less carbon based fuel then there's less CO2 released into the environment?

[matt_xyz]

in this context the 2 are used interchangeably. Carbon dioxide is released when we burn fossil fuels containing carbon. But you're right, carbon trading etc all refer to emissions of CO2.

Matt

[pressld2]

Hi Gill,

Fossil fuels like oil, gas and coal contain carbon bound up with other elements in molecules. (Coal itself is made up of molecules of pure carbon but there are usually impurities embedded in it). When the fuel is burned the molecules are broken apart into smaller molecules or individual atoms. This is what releases the energy. The individual atoms of each element are then free to join with other atoms to form new molecules. Carbon combines very readily with oxygen to form carbon monoxide (1 carbon atom + 1 oxygen atom) and carbon dioxide (1 carbon atom and 2 oxygen atoms).

Hope that helps!

Dave P.

[Gill Catton]

Originally Posted by pressld2

Hi Gill,

Fossil fuels like oil, gas and coal contain carbon bound up with other elements in molecules. (Coal itself is made up of molecules of pure carbon but there are usually impurities embedded in it). When the fuel is burned the molecules are broken apart into smaller molecules or individual atoms. This is what releases the energy. The individual atoms of each element are then free to join with other atoms to form new molecules. Carbon combines very readily with oxygen to form carbon monoxide (1 carbon atom + 1 oxygen atom) and carbon dioxide (1 carbon atom and 2 oxygen atoms).

Hope that helps!

Dave P.

Interesting so you need only expose carbon rich things like coal or oil (or peat?) to the air and it forms CO2? Or do you need to burn them? or does that simply release more carbon dioxide?

So carbon in itself (like a lump of coal) can produce CO2 just with us exposing it and/or burning it we make the situation worse?

do diamonds produce carbon dioxide?


plants produce carbon dioxide in the absence of light- but not because they are composed mostly of carbon but because of the gaseous exchange caused by photosynthesis?

Oh I wish I had been taught more about this in chemistry!

[pressld2]

Originally Posted by Gill Catton

Interesting so you need only expose carbon rich things like coal or oil (or peat?) to the air and it forms CO2? Or do you need to burn them?

You need to burn them to free the atoms from the molecules that they are currently in. A lump of coal is pretty inert and does not give off CO2 on it's own.

I takes ridiculously high temperatures to burn a diamond but yes, it too would produce CO2 if you did.

Dave P.

[Ukwildlifeo]

Originally Posted by Gill Catton

plants produce carbon dioxide in the absence of light- but not because they are composed mostly of carbon but because of the gaseous exchange caused by photosynthesis?

Plants are always respiring/breathing like us and producing CO2. Its just when theres light they produce O2 (oxygen) as a by product of photosynthesis (which uses up CO2), and use up more CO2 than they produce.

[Gill Catton]

so when they are talking about something being carbon neutral - do they mean no fossil fuels have been used in its production or that no CO2 has been produced or that the production has been mitigated somehow.....

I wish when people referred to carbon they mean't carbon and when they refer to CO2 they mean CO2 - it probably only bother me but to me its like continually referring to a blackbird as a thrush. They are in a way related but they are still different.

Though I suppose one can't ever become the other....................

[Dogghound]

.....and carbon dioxide is causing a problem due to it being a greenhouse gas, its increasing concentration is causing the planet to warm up.

[Gill Catton]

Originally Posted by Dogghound

.....and carbon dioxide is causing a problem due to it being a greenhouse gas, its increasing concentration is causing the planet to warm up.

Aaah now I knew that bit what has been confusing me is people keep talking about carbon and I wasn't really sure if they were using lazy media speak or that they were actually referring to carbon and not carbon dioxide

[Dan Salter]

Inresting thread and interesting point, well done Gill.

Cant we just say for ease that anything beginning with Car....is bad?...so, Carbon, Carbon dioxide, Cars, Carpets, Carbunkles, Carboot sales and Carlisle ....all bad i tell thee !