The price of crude oil continues to rise in the
international markets, leaving the political leaders across the world in an
anxious lurch, when manufacturing hubs have acutely start feeling the pinch due
to rising energy costs.
As of 2:00pm GMT, the prices of WTI and Brent were
at 7-year-high, with price tags $84.96 and $86.39 respectively; the only thing
that can put a damper on the prices, in the current situation, is the data of
the US crude oil inventories, to be released in the next two days.
The prevailing gas crunch is one of the key factors
that pushes the price of oil; in some parts of the world, the energy generated
by renewables went down unexpectedly during the last few months due to slow
wind speed and inconsistent capture of sunlight by PV farms.
With the coal industry in the doldrums, having been
demonized as the chief polluter of the planet for years, the power industry lost
a reliable, relatively cheap alternative; in these circumstances, relatively
cleaner natural gas became the next choice – but, at a critical time.
The countries, however, are turning back to coal in
droves in the midst of the energy crunch. Two major energy uses in the world,
China and India, for instance, are turning back to coal for power generation at
a faster pace.
As a result, the coal industry is going to be
rekindled in the next few months in the countries that are in dire need of it –
and beyond; since China has turned to Russia, Indonesia and Kazakhstan for its
supply of coal, they will undoubtedly increase the output in the coming months
in order to meet the demand.
The energy crunch – and energy emergencies in some
European countries such as Moldova – popped up at a time when the world debates
over how to keep the rising global temperatures at bay.
Although most of the countries pledge to cut down on
carbon emissions in 30-40 years’ time, the crisis at present has the potential
to wipe out the years of gains on carbon-reducing front; turning to coal as the
last resort in the current circumstances hardly help the distant goal.
