Vehicle Technology And Fuel

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Vehicle Technology And Fuel

Oil price hike: quick-fix measures wont work

Railway minister Laloo Prasad Yadav and former cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu are the clowns of Indian politics. But think of the actions of the two in the past fortnight and you will begin seeing the difference. Sidhu led the protest for the Bharatiya Janata Party against the fuel price hike by riding an elephant. Effective but clearly stupid. Do excuse my intemperate language but the gall of the politicians to believe we are myopic and their complete lack of leadership in this time of crisis makes me mad.

Health, climate and vehicles

The recently-released annual global energy trend tracker, World Energy Outlook (WEO), 2007 of the International Energy Agency, has sounded the alert on India crossing the tipping point of per capita GDP of $3000.

Biofuel: good idea, bad practice

Now that the reality of climate change has been accepted even by its strongest sceptics, there is a rush to find answers. The latest buzz is to substitute the use of greenhouse gas-emitting fossil fuels with biofuels—fuel processed from plants. Unfortunately, the way we are going about implementing this “good” idea could mean we are headed from the frying pan to the fire.

Frugality is not poverty: lessons in energy security

After much vacillation and prevarication, the government has finally done the inevitable—raised the price of petroleum products—by doing a little of everything. But the bottom-line is that even after the cut in customs tax, reduction in excise duty, a ‘modest’ increase in the cost of petrol, diesel and cooking gas for all and a further request to states to slash their taxes, the oil companies are still left with massive deficits in every litre or every cylinder sold. It is a job half done at a time when the burden of the task is spiralling.

Can we afford not to change? Can we afford the change?

The to-be-or-not-to-be question of our age. Given the crisis that confronts us—inequality and poverty in our immediate midst and growing climate insecurity in our world—we have no choice but to change. But how will this change be afforded? If we cannot find an answer to this one, what we will get is a lot of talk and little action. In fact, we will regress, literally and deliberately.

Tax our cars, Mr Finance Minister, not our buses: says CSE

New Delhi, January 16, 2008: The car is not the problem, but government policy is, says the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), listing its demands for Budget 2008. The 9th Auto Expo will close on January 17, but its message should make us all sit up. Personal vehicle ownership is rising in India; it will grow manifold in coming years. There will be a few million more cars -- small as well as big, and many of them driven on toxic diesel -- jostling for that limited space on our limited roads.

GoodBAU, cruel world

At l’aquila in Italy, during a meeting of the world’s major boys and girls, India agreed to cap its carbon emissions.