Air, water, soil and noise pollution are a major concern to many people. Understanding the environmental impact of diesel vs gasoline powered engines can help you choose the cleaner fuel.

Diesel VS Gasoline Emissions

Both diesel and gasoline powered engines release dangerous emissions into the air that can pollute the environment. To identify which of the two fuel pollutes the environment less, several studies have looked at the environmental impact of diesel vs gasoline emissions. They collect, measure and analyze the emissions from both diesel and gasoline powered engines to better understand what type and how much pollutants each one emits.

What Diesel And Gasoline Emissions Have In Common

Both diesel and gasoline powered engines emit five basic elements that are considered environmental contaminants. They are:

1. Carbon Monoxide
2. Hydrocarbons
3. Carbon Dioxide
4. Nitrogen Oxides
5. Suspended Particulate Matter

These five fundamental gases are dangerous poisons that pollute the air, water and soil. They also destroy the ozone layer that protects the planet and the people on it from the sun's dangerous ultraviolet rays and other destructive forces.

1. Carbon Monoxide

When gasoline or diesel fuel in engines or equipment isn't completely burnt, poisonous carbon monoxide gas is released into the air. Its molecules absorb heat, reflect it back to the Earth's surface and create dangerously hot temperatures in the air, seas and land. This is called the greenhouse effect. Breathing this toxic gas causes nausea, headache, dizziness, fatigue, convulsions, problems with the heart and other organs, brain damage, memory and behavioral issues and death.

2. Hydrocarbons

Another dangerous greenhouse gas, hydrocarbons are a combination of atoms of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. High levels of hydrocarbon emissions is caused by poor fuel ignition. Hydrocarbon emissions can cause acute eye, throat and lung irritation, asthma and other respiratory disorders, bone marrow damage, cancer, liver disease and red blood cells depletion. Hydrocarbon pollution also kills leaves and flower buds and inhibits plant growth.

3. Carbon Dioxide

About 22% of the carbon dioxide emissions in the atmosphere comes from automobiles. CO2 emissions contribute to the Greenhouse Effect. Inhaling carbon dioxide can cause dizziness, confusion, shortness of breath, headaches, fatigue, vertigo, tinnitus, seizures, muscle tremors, increased heart rate, kidney failure, metabolism and bone calcium changes, eye, nose, throat and skin irritation and death.

4. Nitrogen Oxides

Nitrogen oxides (NOx) is a group of 7 dangerous chemicals created by combining nitrogen and oxygen. A key element in air pollution, smog and acid rain, NOx is a health and environmental hazard. Nitrogen oxides can cause eye, respiratory system and skin irritation, asthma and other respiratory diseases, abdominal pain, choking, rapid pulse, coughing, nausea, headache, dilated heart, female infertility, genetic mutations and even death.

5. Suspended Particulate Matter

Particulate matter in soot and smoke emissions is material like liquids, gases and carbonaceous solids. They include heavy polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons, hydrated sulfuric acid, metallic abrasion particles and silicates. Inhaling these particles causes dizziness, headaches, severe respiratory issues, irritation of the eye, nose and throat, cardiovascular and cardiopulmonary disease and lung cancer. Particulate emissions contaminate the air, soil and water.

Diesel Environmental Impact

Research on the diesel environmental impact has revealed it contributes to water, soil and air pollution. Diesel fuel emissions has hundreds of hydrocarbons and at least 40 toxic air pollutants. It includes fine particles, atmospheric soot, silicates, ash, sulfates, metallic abrasion particles and carbon particles matter. These contribute to acid rain, coastal water eutrophication and global warming.

Diesel Emissions And Health

The carbon dioxide, hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide and particulate matter in diesel emission makes it a serious health hazard. Inhaling them can cause headaches, eye, nose, throat and skin irritation, allergies, cardiopulmonary, cardiovascular and respiratory disease, dizziness, problems with mental function and lung cancer. It can do serious damage the lungs, heart, brain and other vital organs.

Gasoline Environmental Impact

The adverse gasoline environmental impact is caused by the carbon monoxide, unburned hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxides, particulate matter and other toxic chemicals gasoline emissions contain. A major cause of air pollution, gasoline emissions also contain the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide. The sulfur, carbon and nitrogen oxides gasoline emissions contain causes acid rain, global warming, melting glaciers, climate change and other types of damage to the environment.

Gasoline Emissions And Health

Gasoline emissions adversely impact the physiology and health of plants, animals, entire ecosystems, and the world's climate. Extended exposure to it is a health hazard. Gasoline contains about 150 different chemicals, including hydrocarbons, alkenes, toluene, and xylenes. If it enters the lungs or bloodstream, it can impair central nervous system function, cause organ, eye, lung and skin damage, vertigo, dizziness, lightheadedness, headaches, coughing, slurred speech, convulsions, kill healthy tissue and lead to heart arrhythmia and heart failure.

A Direct Comparison

A direct comparison of diesel vs gasoline emissions reveals both contain dangerous environmental pollutants that can cause a variety of health problems. Each one has large amounts of different toxins. Gasoline emissions release much more carbon monoxide than diesel engines. It also contains more carbon dioxide or co2 emissions. Gasoline produces less nitrogen gas and suspended particulate emissions than diesel fuel. However, gasoline engines also release more benzene, a carcinogenic hydrocarbon, than diesel engines.

Diesel Is Dirtier

Diesel emissions account for 25% of air pollutants. But, it only produces one-twenty-eighth the amount of carbon monoxide released by gasoline engines. However, diesel engines emit 20 times as much nitrogen oxides as gasoline engines and much more particulate matter. Diesel is more harmful to water and soil because it lands on the surface, seeps in and remains for years. Generally speaking, diesel vehicle emissions is more harmful than emissions from petrol vehicles.

Why Is Natural Gas Bad

Natural gas is an efficient, economical, relatively clean burning, fuel. Its emissions have less carbon dioxide and other air pollutants than diesel and gasoline. This makes many people wonder why is natural gas bad for the environment. Because it's primarily methane, a dangerous greenhouse gas, the ecological danger of natural gas is if it's released into the air unburnt during the production process. Unburnt natural gas is potentially about 55 times as harmful as co2 emissions.

Its Production Process Hurts The Environment

While using natural gas seems more environmentally friendly, released into the atmosphere unburnt, it can cause an ecological catastrophe. Plus, natural gas exploration and drilling disturbs large areas of soil and vegetation, pollutes the air and water and displaces wildlife. There's nothing environmentally friendly about that process.

Get Rid Of Old Junk Cars

Newer diesel cars or a brand new petrol car use fuel additives and systems that reduce toxic emissions. This makes their engines run cleaner and more efficiently. If you have an older petrol car or one of the older diesel cars, keeping them properly tuned reduces their poisonous emissions. For people who want to get rid of toxic emissions spewing junk cars in an environmentally friendly and profitable way, contacting Cash For Junk Cars New York can help. Cash For Junk Cars New York offers great prices for old gasoline and diesel cars.