Use of Fuels in the Productivity of Ecuadorian Companies: Assessment of Their Impact on Climate Change

Abstract

This article aims to analyze the relationship between fuel consumption (gasoline, diesel, and Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) and total production in Ecuadorian companies that use some fuel in their processes, in addition to quantifying the CO2 emissions generated by these fuels in 2019. For this purpose, a correlational study of these variables (Pearson’s correlation coefficient) has been made, using statistical data from the ENESEM 2019 Structural Enterprise Survey, prepared by the National Institute of Statistics and Census (INEC). The results show that the relationship between the consumption of Extra gasoline and Ecopais with total production is not significant, while it is in the case of consumption of Super gasoline, Diesel, and LPG. As for CO2 emissions, it is observed that the largest generator is diesel, with almost 4.5 megatons per year, second to gasoline, with a little less than 2 megatons, and finally is LPG, with less than 0.5 megatons. In conclusion, LPG fuel, whose association with total production is the most significant, is the least polluting and in total these business sectors generate almost 7 megatons of CO2 per year of the total 40 megatons generated by the country.