Your Boat’s Carbon Footprint

Radically Reduce Your Boat’s Carbon Footprint

 

When you reduce your boat’s “carbon footprint,” you also reduce your operating costs.

Even as you acknowledge your blissful days on the lake are an extravagance, you argue their benefits for your sanity and your family’s happiness more than justify the expense. Moreover, you love your days on the open water so much you are willing to take bold steps to continue enjoying them. You are willing not only to review all the real costs of operating your boat but also to assess your boat’s impact on the environment. As you form your resolve, you should remember, as with most things earth-friendly, reducing your carbon footprint is a wallet-friendly choice, too.

Calculate your current footprint

For the sake of simple discussion, you can calculate your boat’s carbon footprint by simple multiplication using the formula…

#gallons x lbs/gal(CO2) = e CO2
(size of your fuel tank) X (pounds per gallon burned)=(carbon emissions or “the footprint”)

Calculate at the rates…

one gallon of marine diesel produces 21.24 lbs. CO2
one gallon of marine unleaded (93 octane)produces 19.88lbs. CO2
one gallon of marine unleaded (91 octane)produces 19.51lbs. CO2
one gallon of marine unleaded (89 octane)produces 19.52lbs. CO2
one gallon of “jet A” produces 21.1lbs. CO2
one gallon of biodiesel produces 5.02lbs. CO2

Of course, the less fuel you burn, the less you pollute the atmosphere. You may naturally wonder how a gallon of gasoline that weighs barely six pounds in the can mysteriously generates more than twenty pounds of carbon emissions. Blame the fire triangle: In your engine, gasoline mixes with heat and oxygen—the miracle of internal combustion; as gasoline and oxygen mix, oxygen increases the weight of combustion’s by-products by a multiple of approximately 3.5.

Choose your footprint reduction plan

Obviously, changes in octane ratings have little impact on the size of your carbon footprint, so that acting conscientiously to reduce your emissions requires a choice among three options. You may reduce your fuel consumption by going to a smaller and more fuel-efficient engine, or you may reduce your fuel consumption by applying strict self-discipline to your piloting. The third option is slightly more radical. If you love that big old Chevy 454, and you cannot restrain your urge to run it with the throttle wide-open, then you may aggressively reduce your carbon footprint all the time you are not tearing-up the waterways. Instead of replacing your boat engine, change all your household light-bulbs and replace all your kitchen appliances; then, abandon driving to work and take public transit or ride your bicycle.

Further reduce your footprint

A little common sense cuts carbon emissions a lot, simultaneously cutting your costs and making you a safer helmsman…

• Generally back-off the throttle and control it more smoothly, cutting out your jack-rabbit starts and backing off from wide-open to cruise at least two or three more times per outing than you have been accustomed to backing-off in the past.

• Update and downsize your engine. Just as high-performance auto engines now generate the same old-fashioned horsepower from far fewer cubic inches with far less fuel consumption, so boat engines have evolved. What used to take eight cylinders now requires only six, and what used to suck-up premium fuel now sips regular. Just as importantly, update and upgrade your propellers; stainless steel propellers rock.

• Perfect your “planning” skills. Just as your car uses less fuel when it runs at 60 mph at the low end of fifth gear than it uses at 10 mph wound-out in first, so your boat runs far more efficiently when it “planes.” Get on-plane quickly and stay there; perfect your “power trim” skills. The less hull you drag through the water, the less your engine has to work against waves, wake, and chop.

• Cut weight wherever you can. Do not carry extra fuel on-board, give-up all those unnecessary accessories, and make sure your hull is perfectly clean. While you are cutting weight, seriously consider cutting size. If you have a compelling need for speed, remember that smaller boats go much faster using far less fuel.

On the water, “economical” and “ecological” are synonyms. The more you increase your boat’s fuel efficiency, the more you make it earth-friendly. The more you reduce your boat’s carbon footprint, the more you assure your children and their children can enjoy the same blissful days on the lake that have enriched your life and made your hard work worthwhile.

Photo credit: Boating-at the gas pump by momentcaptured1/flickr; Speed by Zanastardust/flickr

Timothy Petersen is an avid water sports enthusiast and content contributor for SkiSafe.com, a Boat Insurance provider specializing in PWC insurance for jetskiis, yachts, fishing boats, and more