Price of crude oil has been rising steadily in the last few months.
Demand from emerging economies,unrest in Libya and the falling value of the dollar have all been cited as possible reasons.
High oil prices place an onerous burden on the government budgets in India , which subsidizes kerosene, LPG and diesel. There is also the risk of food crops being used for fuels like corn based ethanol. This will worsen food inflation worldwide, with terrible consequences especially in developing countries. In India , it is already uncomfortably high.
There might just be a very tiny silver lining to this. My hope is that sustained high oil prices would provide a stronger incentive for use of non-fossil fuels. Research on alternate transportation fuels will get more attention and the much needed boost in funding.
And maybe, this will hasten the introduction of a viable ,mass scale, long term alternative to oil.
Demand from emerging economies,unrest in Libya and the falling value of the dollar have all been cited as possible reasons.
High oil prices place an onerous burden on the government budgets in India , which subsidizes kerosene, LPG and diesel. There is also the risk of food crops being used for fuels like corn based ethanol. This will worsen food inflation worldwide, with terrible consequences especially in developing countries. In India , it is already uncomfortably high.
There might just be a very tiny silver lining to this. My hope is that sustained high oil prices would provide a stronger incentive for use of non-fossil fuels. Research on alternate transportation fuels will get more attention and the much needed boost in funding.
And maybe, this will hasten the introduction of a viable ,mass scale, long term alternative to oil.
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