No replies to this topic

[JarMil]

Hi. I am a mechanical engineering student and I was given the task of comparing a new weed-control method to conventional herbicides. One aspect I want to look at is a comparison of the greenhouse gasses emitted for the use of each method. However, linking the production of herbicides to greenhouse gas emissions is proving to be a problem.

I've done enough research where I am to the point that if I could find out how much energy is required to produce a pound of herbicides, I could estimate the amount of greenhouse gasses emitted for the production and use of the chemicals. I've found a nice report on the synthesis (link)of two herbicides that I want to research, Atrazine and Glyphosate, but I know that doing simple Hess's law analysis to find the change in enthalpy would hardly scratch the surface of how much energy is required.

Can anybody point me in the right direction? Are there resources I am overlooking or rules of thumb I could use to estimate the energy required?

Thanks.