OPEC and the Fall of CO2 emissions.

Let me preface this that I am a capitalist!

Here is a perfect example of the MARKET doing a great job. Good job consumers! 

So... oil prices have been high. The economic situations in many countries looks grim, and to top it off, there has been a huge surge towards efficiency. Now if you throw all of these factors together you will see a significant drop in consumption. Drivers in America have driven LESS miles (almost 9 billion less miles) in march alone than the year before, and overall, the end of the year may see a 5% REDUCTION in total miles driven -- the first time in nearly two decades that there has been a decrease (http://blog.rollinsfinancial.com/2008/07/gasoline-consumption-miles-driven-drops.html). Now even though places like China, and India are INCREASING consumption overall has decreased on a global scale. Of course supply still has not caught up to demand, but inventories are getting very full (there is great demand for oil in poor remote places for example, but no way to get the oil there, therefore inventories can be full, yet still not hitting demand). This has forced OPEC to cut their global production. 

This will probably level out the collapsing oil prices, and therefore gasoline will be more expensive, but the overall outcome will be a win for people worried about CO2 emissions. 

Think of it this way. And lets run some numbers. 

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/opec-cut-production-15-million/story.aspx?guid=%7B6F142BD4-9B32-449E-A948-DD31F5D9E622%7D&dist=msr_17

OPEC will cut 1.5 Million barrels of oil a day. Thanks to our good friends at

http://numero57.net/?p=255

They have done some simple calculations to figure out the minimum emissions of a barrel of oil (not all oil is created equal, in fact there is a large discrepancy as to the quality, and type of oil), and the MINIMUM emissions are 317 kg of CO2 per barrel (check out the site to get the full rundown). 

Now, there will be 1.5 million barrels less that are "produced" aka, sucked outta' the ground. 

That means that 317 * 1.5 million = 475 million kg of CO2 

365 days a year * 475 million kg = 173,557 million kg, or 173 BILLION kg of CO2 that will not be in atmosphere. 

So, atta' boy capitalism for helping ease global warming. The power is in the hands of the consumer, especially the American consumer. So good job you. Lets get some wind turbines up.

Thanks,

Guthrie