This is how big one tonne of CO2 is

Image from this LinkedIn post

41 comments

At what sort of pressure?
- 1 atmosphere, so sea level pressure, per Diána Ürge-Vorsatz
  
  I feel like a ton of C02 at air pressure should be bigger.
  I know it's correct, but it looks like the amount of exhaust produced by a car idling for a few minutes, at a visceral level you just expect a literal tonne of gas to take up more volume.
- At what temperature?
  
  Whatever it was about on Jan 27, 2024 in Vienna in the evening during the Science Ball. Probably about 10°C
If it weighs that much why did they have to strap it down. Huh….. Huh /s
If we jump in there can we have a really really good nap?
- People tend to end up dead within seconds of entering any kind of oxygen-free atmosphere. People who follow them in to attempt a rescue without a tank of air generally end up dead as well, creating a whole chain of dead.
  Don't do that.
  
  Does Lemmy have an equivalent of woosh or ThatsTheJoke?
- Suffocation by CO2 is a pretty painful way to go, so I wouldn't recommend.
  
  Yeah, I've taken a breath in a high-CO2 environment a few times. The whole body freaks out instantly. Not fun.
Wait?! Is this what they mean by carbon capture?
- Next step is interrogation
- Well, not in such cubes, but I have heard the plan of piping the CO2 into underground caverns.
Expected it to be bigger, still terrifying
My brain is not wrapping around this so well.
The co2 in that cube at normal air pressure would weigh 1000 kg?
Doesn't air only weigh a kilogram per cubic meter?
I know co2 is heavier, but is co2 that much heavier?
Like 20 times heavier?
No, I just looked it up, air is 1.2 kg per cubic meter and CO2 is 1.8 kg per cubic meter.
Someone set me straight, I don't get it.
- At standard temperature and pressure (STP) it looks like CO2 has a density of 1.96 kg/m^{3. 1 tonne = 1000 kg, so a tonne of CO2 has a volume of (1000 kg)/(1.96 kg/m}3) = 510 m^{3 at STP. A cube of that volume would have side length (510 m}3)^(1/3) = 7.99 m, so roughly 8 meters per side.
  I don't know how tall that person is, but if we assume around 1.6 m (5' 3") then the cube side length should be about 5 of her. Seems pretty accurate to me.
  
  Thank you, this helps, brain wrapping successfully now.
Not sure it actually demonstrates the extend of the issue. My favourite way to look at it (via ThunderF00t@youtube I believe):
dry ice is essentially frozen CO2 ( CO2 in solid form)
cca 40 billion tuns per year (cca 5t per person / year, 8 billion people)
1km side cube of dry ice weights cca 1.5 billion tuns (1.560 kg/m3 says wiki)
=> Burj Khalifa has 830 m - imagine huge cube of dry ice 20% taller ( or 3x eifell tower)- all that CO2 boiling off in massive clouds - than add 25 of them - each year. We've been doing this at some scale for decades....
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V117Ycxb6a0
Okay?
What's the takeaway from that?
- We're dumping tens of billions of tonnes per year in the atmosphere. Enough to make a difference
  
  Yes, I'm aware. My question was about the inflatable really?
- Classic concern trolling.
- I think the people who show us how bad it is probably already have changed their lifestyles to be net carbon sinks. They're just throwing your dumbass a bone trying to teach you.
I guess I'm confused on the definition of a "tonne" of CO2. Am I to believe that if that cube was completely full of CO2 that volume of CO2 would weigh 1000kg?
Nevermind, just looked it up. It's actually a measure of volume, just 1000 cubic meters, which makes perfect sense.
Edit: it was actually the first one, although a "tonne" as a measure of volume does exist.
- You had it right the first time, 1 tonne (1000 kg) of CO2 at standard temperature and pressure would have a volume equivalent to that cube.
  
  Confirmed with this MIT page: https://climate.mit.edu/ask-mit/how-much-ton-carbon-dioxide
- Gas doesn't seem heavy until you handle gas canisters full and empty.
  
  I mean, those are much higher than 1 atmosphere though.

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