This is how to hit Russia's oil sale with car-free sundays
Car-free Sundays in cities, WFH up to three days per week, and adopting cost-effective public transportation are some of the measures to hurt Russia’s oil revenue.
These are recommendations presented to the world by the International Energy Agency (IEA), a 10-point action plan intending to reduce oil use.
The agency says this is necessary “in the face of an impending global energy crisis caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.”
According to IEA estimates, if the proposed changes are followed internationally, they may help reduce oil consumption by 2.7 million barrels per day (bpd) within four months. That is more than half of Russia’s exports.
The world consumes about 100 million barrels of oil every day, according to estimates.
Among the immediate steps to be implemented, particularly by industrialised nations, are lower highway speed restrictions of at least 10 kilometres per hour, as well as so-called car-free Sundays, with each such day, saving around 380,000 barrels of oil, according to the global energy watchdog.
The pamphlet goes on to say that car-free Sundays are nothing new and that comparable policies were implemented in nations like Switzerland, the Netherlands, and West Germany during the 1973 oil crisis. Furthermore, certain cities have lately adopted the practice to boost public health, according to the IEA.
According to the document, in addition to reducing oil consumption, car-free Sundays will result in cleaner air, less noise pollution, and enhanced road safety.
Reducing Russia’s income
Furthermore, the IEA proposes that people who can work from home up to three days each week do so. Cheaper public transportation and incentives to buy a bike are two other things that governments would be wise to do.
The IEA notes in its plan that, in addition to lowering “price pain suffered by consumers around the world,” the proposed changes might also “reduce Russia’s hydrocarbon income, and assist steer oil demand towards a more sustainable course.”
The report concludes that reducing oil use should be more than a one-time push, as it is critical for combating climate change.
Oil prices have risen to about $140 per barrel since Russian forces stormed the Ukrainian border on February 24 – levels not seen since 2008.