Oil prices surge to US$91.87

Its good to have electrical vehicles but people should be made aware of the costs of replacing the batteries as they cost a lot of money and have a finite lifetime. This is apart from the cost of charging them when everyone knows what electrical energy costs and also polluting because although the vehicle itself will not be polluting, the required electrical energy to charge the batteries have to come from the power station which uses fossil fuels to generate electricity and therefore pollution. The best choice would be either using LPG which has now gone up in price 300% or hydrogen which only produces water as a byproduct. So be careful before you splash your hard-earned money on electric vehicles and see the running and maintenance costs including changing the batteries which would most probably not last more than every 2 1/2 - 3 years if given good TLC.

This news about the price of oil is a timely reminder that as a Nation we in Malta are so very dependent upon this coomodity. We should therefore be thinking ahead when in two to three years time oil reaches the heady price of $120+ a barrell. Whilst we read that there is a potential to develop and infrastructure of electric cars with the potential to have 5000 by 2020, that number is farcical compared to the existing numbers of cars and light vans now in use in Malta. What we need is a replacement fuel (biofuel) for the existing use of gasoline-petrol/Diesel in Malta and Gozo to supply the fuels for our existing cars. The import of a new un-tried electric car system which only a few will use will barely scratch the surface of our need. This supply of a biofuels in Malta is already here and the reporters and readers of this paper (and those of both Malta Star and the Times) will recall that there is a proposal to build two major bioethanol plants in Malta and Gozo over the next three/four years in a proposal by Genesyst UK which will bring an investment of around €240+ million to this country and build two bioethanol plants. The first will produce around 90 million litres of ethanol fuel (10% of Malta's needs) and the second twice this quantity (meeting a further 20% of Malta's needs) as well as create nearly 300 permanent jobs desperately needed in Malta/Gozo. What we need to understand from the Government is when will these projects happen for it is known that the company is also looking at other countries in the area to extend its operations. Malta could become a lynch-pin for this. Let us know what is going on pleasae for this information is well reported in the European Press.