The amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere by a vehicle is primarily determined by the carbon content of the fuel. However, there is a small portion of the fuel that is not oxidized into carbon dioxide when the fuel is burned. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has published information on carbon dioxide emissions from gasoline and diesel which takes the oxidation factor into account and is based on the carbon content used in EPA's fuel economy analyses. Vehicles burning diesel fuel release more carbon dioxide per gallon than vehicles burning gasoline, but they also travel more miles per gallon burned.

Carbon Dioxide Emissions from a Gallon of Fuel

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