Energy crisis

Not very long ago in our schools we read about energy crisis. People had seen today long before it came. Our text books advocated on the use of renewable sources of energy. They said we as a student should comprehend the fact that energy is not cheap. Our teachers failed to give us proper examples of renewable and non-renewable energy. We had parrot learnt that renewable energy should be used while we should gradually cut down the use of non-renewable energy. We did fail to learn it in the true essence but even the developed nations seemed to ignore the impact on the exhaustion of the renewable energy. They fought for oil. A country lost its sovereignty in the name of bringing in justice and in the name of war on terror. The most powerful country tried to show what the fate of those who do not fall on knees before their decree. People argued the war was not a war on terror it was a part of fuel politics and so it seemed. Unfortunately despite their war the fuel prices only soared. Every day the price of oil is reaching new heights. What did the war bring then? Had those billions spent on establishment of alternative power sources or in its research we could have expected a change. The fuel crisis is hitting the under-developed countries really hard.

No country remained unaffected with the rising fuel prices as the problem is a global problem. Our country equally panicked. The political volatility and instability only added to the woes. The government which had already been providing oil in price much lower than global price suffered a huge economic setback. Because of the volatile situation and approaching election the government could not adjust the price fearing it will distract their voters. It was drowning deep in debt. Ultimately its suppliers took off their hands and the crisis was worse. In desperation government funded few billions but the supply was cut down. The queues in the gas stations grew lengthier every day. The busiest of the roads started becoming empty. Loads of people made to their office on foot. It was tiresome and frustrating. In the time when the decade long civil war had come to an end, people had huge expectation. They had expected an overnight drastic impact but the crisis let them down. The panic was at its most and soon as usual we had strikes and 'bandhs'. Obviously the government of the poor countries is poor itself and there was nothing the government could do in a country devastated by war. The fragile economy could not afford any more subsidy, the prices had to eventually soar. In spite of the price adjustment, the price of the fuel is rising higher every day and soon the buying price for the government will exceed its selling point. The problem is that the people already in destitution won't accept further adjustments. Fuel is one thing that leaves an overall impact. The food prices are already reaching the peak; the inflation is at its highest. Even the most developed of the countries are shaking. This seems to be yet another struggle for survival and unless alternative sources are sought the people in the third world will eventually loose the battle.

Ours is the country with second richest water resources. However only water does not generate electricity, huge projects need huge investments and longer time. Amid the political instability investors fear to invest and the government has no money. In this regard, community based small projects would be advisable. From the long years we have been using grinders that used water forces to work. When I was at Trishuli, I had seen those water mills in large number within a small distance. It was cheap and easy. Long ago people discovered solar power could be used as fuel for running machines and for generating electricity. In many parts of the country the solar power has been implemented successfully. The bio-gas can be yet another alternative in agricultural country like ours. A subsidy or a technical assistant to encourage these alternative sources will be a long term investment and also a one time investment.

Vehicles are the major fuel consumers so the vehicles that use alternative sources of energy should be encouraged. Already there are electrical and solar vehicles. A proper research in the field of alternative energy resources is promising. People should be encouraged to use bicycles for short distances. An efficient public transport facility should be provided and people should be rather discouraged from getting private transport. We should share our transport wares with our colleagues, neighbors, family and friends so that we can save fuel.

The crisis of fuel has made travelling really treacherous. First people have to wait for longer time to get a vehicle. Since fewer vehicles are available people would obviously swarm in on a single vehicle, these days travelling on the hood of the buses have become popular which is inviting accidents. People have to travel hanging on the doors of already congested vehicles this also leads to accidents.

It has been late but still there are things we can do. Developed countries need to have a full proof plan and the other countries should play participatory roles. Usually in the developing countries many resources are still untapped which can be used to alleviate the effect of the crisis. However if new alternatives are to be implemented their long term impact needs to be studied for example in the name of addressing the fuel crisis governments and companies turned toward bio-fuel for which they used the cultivable lands to produce fuel producing plants cutting down the food producing plants and the result we are witnessing is alarming. Food prices are at their record high, people in poor countries have already started dying of starvation.