In my previous post, I discussed about the economic impact of 1 billion cars by 2020. Here, I like to talk about the environmental impact. The rising price of oil in the international market is indeed hurting drivers in every country. Growing number of cars means growing demand of oil in the international market. Every economy in South Asia is suffering from the rising price of oil. Well, Bangladesh is actively pursuing a policy of making CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) powered vehicles popular in the streets and this is paying off. The number of CNG run vehicles in Bangladesh is increasing rapidly. Since, Bangladesh has good reserve of gas, CNG is quite affordable.
In India, car companies are starting a rat race about making diesel powered cars and within in the next 5 years, we will see thousands of such cars in Indian market. Now, I can see some god enthusiasm among Indians about biodiesel. India has a plenty of raw materials for producing biodiesel and I believe that biodiesel will have a growing market share in India in the coming years.
More investment on environment friendly fuels is needed in South Asia if South Asian countries want to accommodate more cars without hurting their economy from the rising price of oil in the international market. I think, SAARC should come forward in this matter.
Comment Preview