The number of motor vehicles throughout the world is ever increasing. Motor vehicles in all shapes and sizes, colours and of different brands are increasing day by day.The number of people using motor vehicles is progressive. In the year 1900 there were only 4,192 passenger cars built in the US (the only country to be manufacturing cars). There were no buses or trucks. By 1985 there were 109 million cars in existence. Today, with dozens of countries participating in the creation of automobiles, that number is six times larger.
It is estimated that there are approximately 600 million motor vehicles being driven on the streets of earth. The biggest manufacturers are Japan, producing 8,056,000 cars in 1998, the US, with 5,554,000, and Germany with 5,348,000. With passing time, these numbers experience a rapid growth. For example, in 1960 Japan produced 185,000 cars, but by the end of the 1990’s it was producing nearly 10 million a year. It is believed that at this growth rate, the number of cars on earth will double within the next 30 years. In this time scientists predict that traffic congestion will become 10 times worse than it is today.
If in 2008 it is difficult to cross a major street without having to wait for minutes for the traffic to stop, we cannot imagine how long will we will have wait in future years. As on today there is one car per ten people. This rate will be reduced fast and there will be as many cars as there are people or even more assuming that everyperson will have more than one vehicle.
This rapid increase in the number of vehicles globally and the increase in vehicle usage is the main cause for the increase in the demand for petrol and diesel globally.
With the increase in demand for fuel, as above, and with the insufficient supply and the policy decisions of the Petroleum Producing countries (OPEC) leads to the increase in the price of petrol and diesel globally.
We must create conservation of fuel awareness amoung vehicle users to reduce consumption of petrol and diesel.
