carbon dioxide-equivalent
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See also: carbon dioxide equivalent
English[edit]
Alternative forms[edit]
- carbon dioxide equivalent
- CO₂e, CO₂-eq. (symbolic abbreviations)
Noun[edit]
carbon dioxide-equivalent (uncountable)
- A unit of measure of global warming potential denoting the mass of carbon dioxide that would have the same global warming effect as that of a given mass of some other given gas.
- 2009 September 17th, Kelsi Bracmort, Jonathan L. Ramseur, James E. McCarthy, Peter Folger, Donald J. Marples, “Methane Capture: Options for Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction” (chapter 14), CRS Report (R40813), in Cap and Trade: The Kyoto Protocol, Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions, Carbon Tax, Emission Allowances, Acid Rain SO₂ Program, Ozone Transport Commission, NOx, Carbon Markets, and Climate Change (Government Series), TheCapitol.Net, published 2010, →ISBN, §: Global Warming Potential, chapter page 13 (overall page 250):
- Once methane or other greenhouse gases are converted, using GWP or other methods, they can be expressed in a common unit of measurement: carbon dioxide-equivalent (CO₂-eq. or CO₂e). CO₂e both takes into account the potency of each gas and expresses the quantity of the gas. Carbon dioxide-equivalent has been adopted as a principal unit of measurement to aggregate or make comparisons across greenhouse gases. CO₂e expresses the tons of a greenhouse gas in the equivalent effect of tons of CO₂ on climate change (more specifically, on “radiative forcing”).²¹ Once all gases are converted to CO₂e, they can be compared or added together.
²¹ “Radiative forcing” is defined as the change in the difference between incoming and outgoing radiation at the top of the troposphere. CO₂e is not exactly equivalent to radiative forcing, but it is similar and easier to understand for policy purposes than the main alternative, watts per square meter (W/m²).
Translations[edit]
mass of CO₂ with the equivalent warming effect of a given mass of another gas (unit of measure)