Re: [Paddlewise] CO2 - lets have real information or close discussion

Peter Chopelas wrote:

> of course the different type of materials that kayaks are built from may 
> have a different "carbon cost".  For example propane and gasoline 
> roughly cost the same, but propane has about half the carbon dioxide 
> output for the same amount of combustion for each of the fuels. I 
> imagine there might be something similar with fiberglass/polyester 
> resin, polyethylene, carbon graphite/epoxy resin, and the various other 
> materials used in kayak building. A review of the chemical composition 
> of what ever your kayak is made from will tell you the carbon content of 
> the material.

Sorry, PeterO, I can not help you with the task at hand, although PeterC's 
point above may suggest a mechanism.  In fact, some items may have a 
"negative" carbon cost, if you do the accounting based on their impact on 
NET global CO2.  For example, if you were to grow a cellulosic fiber out of 
the ground using photosynthesis, and weave that fiber into a fabric that 
was then used in a kayak, and which never was subsequently combusted back 
to CO2, then you might be able to "count" the carbon in that portion of the 
kayak as a REDUCTION in global CO2, because it came from atmospheric CO2 
that was fixed as cellulose in the plant.

And, some might have a "zero" carbon cost.  In fact, I suspect much of the 
carbon in kayaks would be of that sort.  If the carbon in the resins were 
extracted from petroleum, with minimal modification, then __unless you 
subsequently burn the kayak__, the carbon in the kayak represents very 
little NET CO2 production, inasmuch as its carbon is more or less in the 
same degree of oxidation it had before manufacture.  Most resins are only 
slightly oxidized, and polyethylene is completely void of bound oxygen, so 
it might turn out that rotomoulded boats are the _least_ carbon 
consumptive, vis a vis CO2 production.

That would leave you only needing to do the accounting of the CO2 produced 
during manufacture, for heating, vehicle transport, etc.

The bottom line, I suspect, is that __tying up__ carbon in the form of 
useful articles such as kayaks, __in lieu of__ burning the same carbon (as 
gasoline, diesel fuel, jet fuel, heating oil, etc.), prevents that carbon 
from contributing to global C02 and hence global warming.

In a nutshell, then, it is better for you to buy another boat than it is to 
drive your vehicle.  The best scenario:

1. Grow your own cellulosic fiber, near home; weave it into fabric.
2. Use the fabric and low-oxygen resins (epoxy and polyester resin are both 
relatively low in oxygen) to make your own boats.
3. Live next to the water, and hand-carry your boats to the water, avoiding 
vehicular travel.
4. Never "retire" your boats; recycle them and re-use them, passing them on 
to others.
5. (Most important of all) And, when you pass on, avoid a Viking funeral!

Yours, in the service of low CO2 production.

-- 
Dave Kruger
Astoria, OR
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