Sunday, November 25, 2012

Where, Mrs. Robinson, lies the problem?

If you thought oil would run out, take a walk (no pun!). Oil isn’t running out, but your money would, given the fact that despite current oil price falls (!!!), rising demand would ensure future oil price rise! And worse, alternative fuel also sucks! virat bahri of B&E confounds [us too!]...

“We are very sorry, Sir, no more is left, not a single drop :(”
“C’mon, mate, you must be joking; this can’t be happening.”
“Believe us Sir, the world has seen the last of black gold! It’s the end of ‘automobil’ity...”

Uhh, alright, it sounded more childish than I should have wanted; but how does one put across the fact that oil may one day run out when, er, it perhaps would never! OPEC’s latest report estimates that between the years 1995-2003, new discoveries improved recoveries by 138 billion barrels. Production has already increased by 26% as compared to the 1960s. By 2020, oil production is likely to cross 1600 billion barrels annually. If such is the case, as Dustin Hoffman asks lovely Mrs. Robinson, where lies the problem? Demand honey, demand. Demand for oil would [should?] far outstrip supply in the coming years. Oil has become a necessary evil for us; it is guzzling down our, and my, bank balances like nobody’s business, yet you can’t imagine life without it. Goddammit, I can’t! And there lies the need to cut across to alternative or quasi-alternative fuel. This dire need to make black gold less ‘necessary’ so that it can become a much subdued ‘evil’ has given rise to numerous technological breakthroughs in alternative fuel technology, giving cars that can run on electricity, hydrogen, E 85 (85% ethanol and 15% gasoline), nuclear, solar, et al. Hybrids have shown some promise too. India has seen its first hybrid in the form of Hero Honda Civic. But considering that these alternatives are yet to convert into truly marketable solutions, aren’t we moving a bit too slow? Moreover we seem to have many technologies posing as possible solutions, but do we have ‘the’ solution in sight?


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

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