Frequently Asked Questions

How much carbon dioxide is produced by burning gasoline and diesel fuel?

About 19.64 pounds of carbon dioxide (CO₂) are produced from burning a gallon of gasoline that does not contain ethanol. Most of the retail gasoline now sold in the U.S. contains about 10% ethanol by volume. Under international agreement, CO₂ from ethanol and other biofuels are not counted at the tailpipe, so burning a gallon of gasoline with 10% ethanol produces about 17.68 pounds of CO₂.

About 22.38 pounds of CO₂ are produced by burning a gallon of diesel fuel. It is possible to buy biodiesel fuel in some states. Burning a gallon of “B10” (diesel fuel containing 10% biodiesel by volume) results in emission of about 20 pounds of CO₂.

EIA estimates¹ that U.S. gasoline and diesel fuel consumption for transportation in 2012 resulted in the emission of about 1,089 and 422 million metric tons of CO₂ respectively, for a total of 1,511 million metric tons of CO₂. This total was equivalent to 83% of total CO₂ emissions by the U.S. transportation sector and 29% of total U.S. energy-related CO₂ emissions.

¹ As of April 18, 2013

Learn more:

CO₂ emission factors for transportation fuels

Historical U.S. energy-related CO₂ emissions by sector by month and year.

U.S. unit to metric conversions

Last updated: April 18, 2013