The rise in consumer use of SUVs made them the second-largest contributor to CO2 emissions increases over the past 10 years, according to a summary for the World Energy Outlook 2019. While passenger cars as a whole had a negative net contribution to CO2 output over the period, the SUV sector contributed more to emissions growth than heavy industry, trucking, aviation or shipping due to energy consumption 25% higher than medium-sized vehicles. In 2017, global oil demand was expected to grow by about 1 million barrels per day (bpd), and that is projected to increase further this year with an average forecast of around 2 mbpd
The rise in consumer use of SUVs made them the second-largest contributor to CO2 emissions increases over the past 10 years, according to a summary for the World Energy Outlook 2019. While passenger cars as a whole had a negative net contribution to CO2 output over the period, the SUV sector contributed more to emissions growth than heavy industry, trucking, aviation or shipping due to energy consumption 25% higher than medium-sized vehicles. SUVs were singled out as a counterexample to those who feel that energy regulations have unfairly targeted cars.