Drops at the PUMP think about it….. A ten minute class activity to estimate amount of petroleum lost at gas stations each year.

Introduction During filling tanks we spill a few drops of gasoline from the nozzle to the ground Probably this loss is not significant compared to the gallons we usually take per visit Have you ever wondered how much gas is wasted ever year because of these few drops? Lets crunch some numbers and find out what this loss means…..

Introduction Remember gas (petrol/diesel) is non-renewable and once finished, we can not make it. If every car drops some gas, at every gas station in the country, those numbers might add up

National Data Hunt Number of gas stations in US: 121,446 Average sale (each station): 10,000 gallons/day Typical refill volume: 15 gallon/car Amount lost in each refill: 1 ml 1 US Gallon = 3800 ml ( ml) What percentage volume of gasoline each car drops on ground? ( (1/3800) gallon ÷ 15 gallon ) × 100 = %

Lets think about one gas station.. What number of cars visits for gas tank fill-up per day? gallon/15 gallon per day = 667 (666.67) cars per day What volume gas dropped on ground at each gas station in an year? 667 ml × 365 days = ml = gallon

Lets consider all gas stations in US.. What volume gas dropped on ground in an year, all gas station in US combined? gallon × gas stations = 7,780, gallon ~ 8 million gallon

So…… Next time you go to gas station PLEASE DO REMEMBER that 8 MILLION GALLON GASOLINE LOSS occurs EVERY YEAR just in USA alone! THE DROP! Reference: