Are Rising Oil Prices a Blessing in Disguise?
With oil prices crossing the $135-dollar barrier the alternative energy company executives are really rubbing their hands in anticipation. In just May the oil prices have risen 20% and consequently the stock markets are panicking big time. Rising raw material costs, if not tackled in time, is definitely going to trigger an economic slowdown. On the contrary the stocks of alternative and renewable energy companies are hitting new highs with: ABN AMRO index of renewable energy stocks has climbed 9.5%.
The cost of generating energy, and that of running automobiles is going to rise, according to predictions, till the end of 2009, and people have already stopped using their big cars because they consume great quantities of petrol. Driving around is no longer a luxury and in fact people have begun to sell their gas-guzzling behemoths and switched over to lighter, smaller vehicles that consume comparatively less fuel.
In some countries people are even using more and more public transport services. It’s not that such services don’t cause pollution, but at least they reduce the volume of traffic on the roads to a small extent.
When it comes to energy, people have fewer choices because electricity is not produced individually, in most of the cases. So if alternative energy companies and organizations can make a better proposition to consumers then this is certainly their golden chance. They should also educate consumers so that consumers put more pressure upon their respective governments to encourage the alternative energy sector.
Of course alternative energy technologies need a big overhaul as their current state is quite expensive to implement. In fact the solar power stocks dived as much as 50 percent in January due to credit crunch fear as this would make many solar panels unaffordable. Somehow the message needs to be conveyed that switching over the alternative energy resources is going to be a lot cheaper than sticking to expensive, outdated fossil fuels.
