Gasoline Demand, Chinese Carbon Emissions -- May 28, 2024

Locator: 47973WTI.

When I get caught up, I'm going to touch on two subjects: EVs and China's carbon emissions.

Gasoline demand: overall gasoline demand is well below historical norms. What's going on? Some of my readers tell me it's due to EV penetration. LOL. Decreased gasoline demand in the US has almost nothing to do with EV penetration. So what's the real reason. CAFE standards that have been in place for decades are starting to make a difference. How old is the average car in the US? 

Yeah, that old.  

Why does it matter?

With or without CAFE standards, the data:

1970 - 2000, from 12 to 17 mpg (I don't know how they got the 29% number):

2024, to 28 mpg, from 20 to 28, 1.4 x 20 = 28. Does that mean a 40% increase? 8/20 = 40 percent.

Hybrids: marginal effect at best.

Going forward:

China carbon emissions: Bloomberg is now suggesting that China has "won the carbon war." I'll talk about this later.