With the lower daily temperatures and the rise of the number of days with polluted air in Macedonian cities, the issue with the sources of emission of hazardous gases that are creating this problem is being opened again. The latest data provided by the State Statistical Office shows that the traffic is the biggest consumer of petrol products in the country, especially diesel. In a period of a decade and a half, the use of diesel by vehicles has increased by 3 fold.
In 2020, a minimal drop in fuel consumption for transportation in Macedonia was evidenced, but that is only because of the COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdowns that were implemented last year as a preventive measure to stop the virus from spreading. Just like in the previous years, the diesel fuel that is used for transportation is by far the most used by vehicles in this country, with 514,395 tons consumed. Even though the consumption has dropped by around 10% compared to 2019, these numbers are worrisome because of the hazardous matters that are emitted in the air because of transportation, which are part of Macedonia’s share in the causing of climate change by emitting greenhouse gasses.
At the same time, passenger transportation is the biggest consumer of diesel fuel in the country. Contrary to this, during last year, 48.629 tons of Liquefied petroleum gas were used as well as 79.410 tons of gasoline.
Despite a drop in the цонсумптион of fuels in transportation was evidenced, the numbers state that during 2020 a record number of vehicles were registered in Macedonia i.e. half a million. Also, in a period of 8 years, the number of diesel vehicles in Macedonia was increased by 160.000 which is a result of the import of used cars from abroad where diesel vehicles are put out of use.
