Petrol Problems

It seems the cost of fuel is always in the papers at the moment. We all know that the price of petrol is going up, due to the world price of barrels of oil, and this is having an impact on every economy in the world. In the UK, the problem is exacerbated by the amount of duty we pay at the pump. These high costs are causing problems for car drivers, especially those who drive to work, and may even force vehicle based businesses to close. However, the question is, how might these increasing fuel prices work in environmental terms? Could they force people to use their cars less often and reduce carbon consumption?

Although this is a commendable idea, I think that people will still use their cars for the foreseeable future. Therefore, an additional solution maybe further developing green car technologies so that cars simply do not need to use petrol (or at least use less petrol). For example, Lotus have developed a car that runs on a combination of gasoline, bioethnanol and methanol, and another one that runs on biofuel. Unlike hydrogen, which must be stored at very high pressure, or very low temperatures, methanol is a liquid at room temperature. It can also burn with greater thermal efficiency than diesel. Another example is the Toyota Prius, which uses both petrol and an electric motor.

Surely, the way to maximise the benefit of environmental policies around transport is to combine a number of possible solutions – technical innovations, green taxes and encouraging greener consumer behaviour.