On the other side of the Atlantic, at least two companies could hardly have chosen a better time to go public. Meanwhile, shares in Capstone Turbine, the producer of ultra low emission microturbines, based in Chatsworth, California, have been seen trading almost five times higher than at the initial public offering in late June. Back on the roads, the imperative to offset the rising cost of motoring has not only forced drivers to think carefully about fuel efficiency but in some cases about the fuel itself. Austrian environment minister William Molterer announced this month that his country s production of biodiesel, a lower emission diesel alternative made from rape seed oil, has already hit 25,000 tonnes this year, compared to 20,000 tonnes for the whole of 1999. Due to the record highs for the price of fossil diesel, the domestic biodiesel industry could have sold multiples of this quantity, he said.
Demand exceeds supply by far.
This is a selection of articles from the September issue of Tomorrow Essentials that you can read for free. Selected articles from other issues of Tomorrow Essentials are also available for free. To receive full editions of this magazine in pdf format by e-mail, please subscribe online. Cover Page Fuel Crisis Stokes Sustainability Governments under siege from angry fuel protestors have steered clear of using environmental arguments to justify the high taxes levied at the pump. But evidence of the past few weeks suggests that where politicians fear to tread, the free market is happily bound to go.