Photo: Anna Frodesiak/Wikipedia Creative Commons license
China’s fuel consumption has increased heavily this week, as the world’s largest migration has begun. Millions of Chinese workers will head back to their hometowns to celebrate the Lunar New Year, their travels back and forth totaling almost 3.2 billion journeys.
The movement started on January 24 and lasts for a week, as Chinese people are traveling back to their families to celebrate the holiday, which falls on February 8 this year.
According to the Societe Generale SA Bank, fuel demand in China in this period will exceed the annual daily average by 242,000 barrels.
Since 2015 registered an average apparent demand of 2.7 million barrels of fuel per day in China, according to data acquired by Bloomberg, during the new year’s holiday, the demand is expected to raise to almost three million barrels of fuel a day.
All the requested fuel is destined for use in jets, cars, and trains. Each transportation solution is experiencing its equivalent of a gridlock, and travelers had to reserve tickets in advance to get a spot on a train or a seat on an airplane.
A Chinese train station was blocked by travelers, and we cannot even imagine what’s happening on their road network, which is overcrowded even on “regular” days.
Even with the world’s largest migration and the fact that China is the world’s biggest car market today, the Middle Kingdom is not the greatest oil consumer on the globe.
That role still goes to the United States of America. Unlike the situation in China, the demand for fuel usually soars in the USA at the end of May.
However, the analysts of the Societe Generale Bank estimate that the Chinese driving habits are on a growing trend even when there’s no holiday in sight. The Chinese bought 2.4 million vehicles in December 2015, and there’s no immediate sign of their market slowing down.
Meanwhile, we cannot help wondering about the environmental impact of such a migration, and we ask ourselves if such great use of fuel in the name of family tradition is justified.
After all, China’s air is not the cleanest in the world, and using three million barrels of gasoline a day does not sound like something good for the ozone layer.
According to the Societe Generale SA Bank, fuel demand in China in this period will exceed the annual daily average by 242,000 barrels.
Since 2015 registered an average apparent demand of 2.7 million barrels of fuel per day in China, according to data acquired by Bloomberg, during the new year’s holiday, the demand is expected to raise to almost three million barrels of fuel a day.
All the requested fuel is destined for use in jets, cars, and trains. Each transportation solution is experiencing its equivalent of a gridlock, and travelers had to reserve tickets in advance to get a spot on a train or a seat on an airplane.
A Chinese train station was blocked by travelers, and we cannot even imagine what’s happening on their road network, which is overcrowded even on “regular” days.
Even with the world’s largest migration and the fact that China is the world’s biggest car market today, the Middle Kingdom is not the greatest oil consumer on the globe.
That role still goes to the United States of America. Unlike the situation in China, the demand for fuel usually soars in the USA at the end of May.
However, the analysts of the Societe Generale Bank estimate that the Chinese driving habits are on a growing trend even when there’s no holiday in sight. The Chinese bought 2.4 million vehicles in December 2015, and there’s no immediate sign of their market slowing down.
Meanwhile, we cannot help wondering about the environmental impact of such a migration, and we ask ourselves if such great use of fuel in the name of family tradition is justified.
After all, China’s air is not the cleanest in the world, and using three million barrels of gasoline a day does not sound like something good for the ozone layer.
Google News