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Greenhouse Gases
IN THIS CHAPTER, we will look at what happens when we burn coal, oil, or natural gas in power plants to create energy. A major point is why coal produces so much more of the greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide, than does oil, which, in turn, produces more than natural gas per unit of energy. Furthermore, the reason that carbon dioxide is such an important greenhouse gas is caused by the fundamental quantum mechanical phenomena of black body radiation and quantized energy levels.
CARBON DIOXIDE FROM BURNING FOSSIL FUELS
Chapter 15 discussed turning wine (ethanol) into vinegar (acetic acid) by adding oxygen to ethanol. When this happens, we say that ethanol has been oxidized to acetic acid. Oxidation is a chemical process that can ...
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