Australia is not to be found anywhere. China has the most greenhouse gas emissions annually, followed by the USA and the European Union comes in third. After the top polluters the drop is significant beginning with India. What I find interesting is that both China and India have more than a billion people living within the country's borders. How is it India's emissions are so much lower than China's emissions of greenhouse gases? Both are BRIC countries, yet there is a significant difference.
Australia is not anywhere in notable greenhouse gas levels. Nowhere. Not in total emissions, emissions per GDP or emissions per capita. Nowhere does Australia have notable greenhouse gas emissions, yet, it has some of the most profound damage on Earth, including the death of the Great Barrier Reef.The USA and Europe needs to take example of a Western country with success in controling greenhouse gas emissions.
This graph to the right below shows greenhouse gas emissions among the 10 top emitters based in total emissions (first column), population (second column) and emissions per GDP (Gross Domestic Product) and Purchasing Power Parity (PPP). As expected the USA comes in second to China in total emissions, but, look at the population difference in the USA and China. The European Union also has a greater population than the USA. But, the real eyeopener is the last column where greenhouse gas emissions are significantly different when realizing the GDP of each of the top three countries.
The First World countries of the USA and Europe have promised technology would meet the challenge of reducing and eliminating greehouse gases. It is propaganda. The world has been fighting the growing danger of the climate crisis for decades. Even when government corruption was rampant, consumers were seeking products that would not emit GHG. It doesn't work. Consumer edication has probbly stemmed higher levels of GHG, but, it has not reduced or ended such emissions.
The country coming in second place in per capita emissions is the USA. We all know the emissions of the petroleum sector is out of control. The CAFE standards was to insure a reduction of carbon dioxide emission at the tail pipe of cars. That has mostly worked. The car companies have dug in and found engineering stratgies to achieve the standards.
I think the USA has somewhat of a handle on CO2 at the tail pipe into the future. There are still many old cars on the road, which was improved with the "Cash for Clunkers" (click here) under President Obama. The automobile of 2017 can be remarkable. There are, of course, the electric cars, but, the hybrids are nothing to ignore (click here).
I recently drove an 870 mile trip in a Hyundai Elantra. The car was amazing with a odometer reading of 19,000 miles. The highway miles consumed extremely little gasoline. This is no lie, the Elantra achieved 70 mpg on the highway at the speed limit. The city miles were also impressive in the 30 to 40 mpg range. There is no reason for any other hybrid to do less. If Hyundai can build a car that remarkable every other company should as well. I remind, Elon Musk, shared his secrets to increase the number of benign cars on the highway when it comes to GHG emissions. It is going to take that level of compassion to beat the climate crisis into submission.
Also to pay attention to are FLEX vehicles that use far cheaper E85 fuel. I really feel the people of the USA and the companies where they purchase their cars are dedicated to absolutely clean energy and ultimately without any GHG emissions.
The real concern is controlling and ultimately eliminating methane from being removed from the ground. We don't need it. We need energy that will protect the Earth our children will inherit.
