PETROL PLUNGES DURING PANDEMIC
Historic fall in demand240% as people choose bikes over cars during lockdown
PETROL usage plummeted to its lowest figure since records began at the start of the pandemic, as Covid19 lockdown restrictions hit demand for personal cars. Demand for petrol went down to less than half the figure first recorded in 1999, between April to June, when the strictest lockdown measures and travel restrictions were in place.
The figure, which had never previously dipped under 11,000 thousand tonnes in a three-month period, fell to a historic low of 5,730 between April and June of last year.
Although usage saw a small bounce back after the easing of the lockdown restrictions in the summer, the figure of 8,801 thousand tonnes remained down by a quarter compared to the same period last year.
The national lockdown restrictions introduced in March 2020 heavily restricted domestic and international travel and lasted into the traditionally busy summer holiday period. People were instructed to only make essential journeys and work from home where possible.
Statistics released by the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy have shown that almost all energy demand has been low due to the Covid-19 restrictions and their impact on travel, economic output and leisure.
Although petrol consumption has steadily increased since its record low in May, it is substantially below the same time in 2019.
Other data shows there has been a falling rate of personal car usage.
RAC Breakdown spokesperson Simon Williams said: “Peoples driving habits have been very strange in 2020, we went from having a 60% reduction in traffic in the first lockdown to people driving far more in the summer.
“Although overall mileage is down, the use of cars has become even more important. In our research, we found out the pandemic makes access to a car more important than ever for people. They feel that being in a car is safer than being on public transport with other people.”
However, the overall reduction in car usage may likely be a trend which is here to stay, Williams added: “Even after the pandemic, people probably won’t go back to offices 5-days a week, they’ll have a more blended solution of working from home and the office, that’s a lasting change we might see from the pandemic."
Between July and September, a period when travel restrictions had been largely relaxed, there were only five days where car usage matched the average set in 2019. The majority of days the figure was significantly below.
The fall in car usage and petrol consumption contrasts with the huge uptake in cycling during Covid, as social distancing forced people to find alternatives to public transport and working from home gave people more time for exercise.
Director of Urbanism at Sustrans, Daisy Narayanan said: “With reduced capacity on public transport, and quieter roads during lockdown, more people have recognised cycling as an attractive mode of transport where it might not have before.
“Normalising walking and cycling will help encourage long-term behaviour, and can help bring about healthy and more equitable towns and cities.
“Re-allocating road space to cycling and walking is the key thing our towns and cities need to do, not just in the short-term to prevent the spread of Covid-19 but in the medium to long-term to tackle the climate crisis, meet the Government’s emission targets and improve public health.”
Overall demand for all transport fuel has decreased by 30 per cent between April and September.
But this decrease is dwarfed by the two-thirds drop in consumption of jet fuel, resulting from the impact of decreased tourism and flight restrictions.
However, the picture in the UK is part of a wider trend that has seen worldwide demand and prices for fuel tumble over the course of 2020. This has also led to an 8.8% decrease in global carbon emissions for the first part of 2020, compared with the same period in 2019.