How green is your county in terms of C02 emissions? A new tool developed by some researchers at Purdue University aims to help you find out. The tool, called Project Vulcan, takes C02 emissions data and graphically maps it using Google Earth. And the results can be pretty surprising.
The C02 project is the brainchild of a team of Purdue researchers led by Dr. Kevin Gurney, an assistant professor of Earth and atmospheric sciences at the school. The team gathered C02 emissions data from the EPA circa 2002 to build the map, which shows both absolute and per-capita results in easy to read graphics that detail whether emissions are due to driving, heating/cooling or industrial sources.
And the results can be counter-intuitive. For example, the Boston Globe cites the fact that Suffolk County in Massachusetts, which includes Boston and the surrounding metropolitan area, emitted 1,799,247 metric tons of C02 in 2002, while more rural Bristol County in the southern part of the state emitted far more–a whopping 3,872,329 metric tons. The reason? Bristol County includes the town of Somerset, home of Brayton Point, New England’s largest coal-burning power plant.
Eventually the team hopes to include data reaching as far back as 1985 to the present, and update it every 6 months thereafter. Curious about your own C02 footprint? Try the 5-minute video flyover for yourself at YouTube.
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