Increased auto sales puts pressure on fuel in Asia

written by: S.M.Mehdi Hassan
Today when I was surfing the net for automobile news I found that this news was covered by several news websites. Asian countries especially, in India and China the rising sales of automobile is creating huge pressure on fuel. In India now days, because of easy bank loans many people are buying cars. The economic boom of the country is also another big contributor behind this. India has made great progress in IT related services. Foreign investors are investing in different sectors of the country which has flourished the country’s economy. Now a lot of people are looking forward to have their own car. Same thing is happening in China. Due to economic prosperity more and more people are now interested in buying cars. This sudden rise in automobile sales will create huge demand on fuel and will increase air pollution and different types of environmental degradation. The governments of the two countries have already made this issue a priority. In China last year, the government introduced fuel efficiency standards for cars and SUVs and raised automobile taxes to promote small fuel efficient vehicle. Also it is planning to adopt Ethanol as an alternative for fuel. India which imports oil is also planning to use Ethanol as an alternative for fuel oil. The Indian government has also taken initiatives to build an Ethanol plant in Jhatropa. At present, in India, three wheeled vehicles- Auto Rickshaws, are using CNG(Compressed Natural Gas). According to a spokes man of India’s Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas because of using CNG the air in the cities are cleaner than earlier.

Related links:
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/business/financial_markets/14461419.htm
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/060429/car_crazy_in_asia.html?.v=2
http://www.salon.com/wire/ap/archive.html?wire=D8H9QLMG0.html
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=1905229&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312&business=true
http://my.earthlink.net/article/bus?guid=20060429/4452e4c0_3421_1334520060429-863412601
http://www.wjla.com/news/stories/0406/323501.html