Are we moving in the right direction?
Volume of petrol sold
There has been a decrease in total petrol consumption in Longyearbyen since 2001. Consumption has also decreased in the period March-May, which is traditionally the main season for snowmobile use. Petrol consumption is considerably higher during these months than the rest of the year. The drop in consumption may be related to the increase in the proportion of snowmobiles with four-stroke engines, and are more fuel-efficient snowmobiles. It cannot be directly explained by a reduction in snowmobile traffic. The number of cars in Longyearbyen has risen in the same period. We do not have any information on what effect this has had on total petrol consumption.
Number of snowmobiles registered in Svalbard
The number of snowmobiles registered in Svalbard is continuing to rise steeply, and there are now six times as many snowmobiles as there were in 1973. However, the two parameters used here, petrol consumption and the number of snowmobiles, do not describe the volume of motor traffic in Svalbard adequately. No statistics are available on the distance driven off-road by snowmobiles and the geographical distribution of off-road driving, which are other important factors.