Why China Is The World s Fastest Growing Economies

Similar to any other commodity commodities, demand for oil plays a very strong role in determining its price. Currently the continents that consume the most oil are Asia followed closely by North America. In 2008 Asia first passed North America in oil consumption due primarily to the developing economies of China and India and by 2010 the Asian continent was consuming around 25 million barrels of oil per day. This is primarily because these economies have historically been manufacturing based economies with extremely large populations, which require large amounts of oil to keep running. China is the world’s largest manufacturer and purchaser of cars, and thus is the largest importer of oil in the world. Although China is one of†¦show more content†¦Regardless of the reason, this means that China may lower its demand for oil and thus negatively impact the price of oil. In addition to the decline of the Chinese economy, demand for oil is also affected by environm ental concerns because burning oil creates carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that is contributing to global warming. In recent years there has been a growing emphasis on reducing carbon emissions in order to become more environmentally friendly. Businesses, countries, and consumers are encouraged to pollute less and leave a smaller carbon footprint. For example, China, the world’s largest consumer of oil, now holds the most wind turbines which shows a push to become less reliant on oil and more environmentally friendly. This is especially evident after the recent United Nations Conference on Climate Change, or COP 21, which was held in Paris last December. At this conference world leaders agreed to combat global warming by trying to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and aiming to become carbon neutral by the second half of the century. This will certainly negatively affect the demand for oil not just in the present, but for years to come as the world tries to shift from a stron g oil reliance to alternative fuels. Although the world may be in search for of alternative fuel sources, cheap oil hinders this search because it lowers its incentives. The