Chapter 5, Problem 123RQ

Biodiesel is formed from the reaction of oils with methanol or ethanol. One of the products is methyl octanoate, ${\text{C}}_{\text{9}}{\text{H}}_{\text{18}}{\text{O}}_{\text{2}}$, which burns completely in a diesel engine. Give a balanced equation for this reaction. If the density of methyl octanoate is 0.877 g/mL, how many grams of ${\text{CO}}_{\text{2}}$ will be formed from the burning of 1 gallon of methyl octanoate? Assuming that you drive a diesel-powered car that gets 32 miles per gallon of biodiesel fuel and you drive 14,525 miles per year, what is the carbon footprint of this activity in terms of pounds of ${\text{CO}}_{\text{2}}$ per year?