Motor Vehicles on the Earth

List of countries by vehicles per capita

Green Car reports

I have been looking at the statistics for road vehicle ownership in the world to develop a global awareness of our current situation. I am interested in it from an environmentalist point of view. There are a roughly estimated 1.2 billion vehicles on the world's roads. This is further estimated to reach 2 billion by 2035. In Europe the politicians are saying that the 2030s will have to bring an end to petrol and diesel vehicles on Europe's roads. Britain has also stated by 2040 such vehicles will be banned.

China still has far fewer vehicles per person than Western countries; it has 1.3 billion of the world's 7 billion residents, but only 100 million or so vehicles. China's take up of the road vehicle, if it is diesel or petrol, could arguably make or break world environmentalism and affect the future of climate change accordingly, in all its implications for us universally. Is there anyone here who has the gossip on any U.S plans to tackle diesel and petrol as fuels for road vehicles? Perhaps you may wish to enlighten us. I hope that China can bypass diesel and petrol by adopting the same attitudes as Europe. It would make ALL the difference: 一下

Looking at the road vehicles per capita statistics the U.S had 797 per 1000 people in 2014. In stark contrast Ethiopia has only 8. Africa, generally, has very low rates of road vehicle ownership; they, too, could bypass the diesel and petrol vehicle.

I am not a climate denier. I believe what the scientists tell me, that:

Cutting carbon: 80 percent needed

A 2.5-billion vehicle "global car parc" would mean that to keep carbon emissions level with today's total, average fleet fuel efficiency would have to double. But scientists suggest that it will be necessary to cut average carbon emissions 80 percent if we wish to stabilize the impact of climate change. And that would require a major proportion of the global fleet to use some other form of propulsion with a far, far lower wells-to-wheels carbon footprint.

The electric car will have to be at the very least an interim gesture. Shared transport, driverless cars, shared ownership and public transport, health enhancing self propulsion vehicles like cycles and the network hub of independent lanes to accomodate them in numbers, are all ways of encroaching on our current dependence and obsession with private vehicle ownership and overuse of diesel and petrol road vehicle fuels. I say overuse because there is obviously an emerging urgent health related aspect of overuse of fuel propulsion, obesity and respiratory and other diseases associated with not exercising and fossil fuel exhaust particles. Train systems, too, can be an enormous commuter and traveler resource. Many nations have waterways and canal systems. In the UK we have an amazing canal system, but it is only used for pleasure use and that can't maintain it economically. Slow water transport for cargo could I hazard a guess be very environmental and low carbon impact. Imagination from innovative humans in high places desperately required.

The fact that close to two billion road vehicles would need replacing guarantees a healthy interim vehicle market. Innovation drives business. Transport network developments and new infrastructure also have developmental advantages.

It is my strong belief a Green Economy can still make money while we are still preoccupied with return to investors. The only return this investor is seeking is a world that is functional and not dysfunctional.

If we have the will to change we have the resources and the opportunity. Eventually, climate change and toxicity will force humans to change. Either wait until we really are in big trouble or act now and lessen the consequences we may even still have to endure even if we do change quickly.

You should be looking at the emmisions of the superfreighters, which deliver goods like solar panels, wind generators & batteries from unregulated China 1st. Then start worrying about automobiles. 16 superfreighter ships produce more harmful emmisions than all of the cars in the world combined. These ships run on bunker oil with no emmisions standards. When researching this, understand that CO2 is not classified as a pollutant. At least most cars have emmisions standards. If one really wants to use less oil, they would only buy products produced domestically & preferably locally. Imo, the manufacturing/disposal process of solar panels & batteries is more harmful to the environment vs. Burning oil. As battery/solar panel technology improves & electric vehicles become more affordable, with more advanced technology, more people will start using them.

originally posted by: JBIZZ
You should be looking at the emmisions of the superfreighters, which deliver goods like solar panels, wind generators & batteries from unregulated China 1st. Then start worrying about automobiles.

Agreed. The problem, like usual, is being pinned solely on the commoner..

Here in Colombia the people are told that the big problem is 2 stroke motorbikes...soooo much co2 coming out of them. Get the little guy!

..Ignoring the big business of hundreds of buses, dump trucks etc that are spewing black smoke all day long. not to mention the many factories and sugar cane burning that stink up the entire Cauca Valley...

And yet, the govt has this on going ad campaign that spews the BS that Cali has "the purest air in Colombia" and it's this super clean city...

Its really sad what people will believe..