LET’S switch on to electric power on our roads!
That was the call today from a Huddersfield academic as the big debate over fluctuating oil prices continued.
Prof Colin Bamford, of the University of Huddersfield, said the production of electric cars is one solution to avoid the pain caused by rising oil prices.
Prof Bamford, Professor of Transport and Logistics at the University, said: “I think most economists would agree that the price of fuel will be expensive in the future.
“Therefore, what we have to do is look to realistic alternative technologies, particularly electric vehicles.
“In the USA there are very clear plans to produce one million electric vehicles a year.
“The technology is there. Where President-elect Barack Obama will run across problems is the power of the big organisations and oil companies who have got a vested interest to keep technology at its current level as far as petrol and diesel-operated vehicles are concerned.”
Prof Bamford said that in Britain, electric cars were ready to be introduced more widely.
“Electric vehicles have been on the go for 40-50 years, but it’s only very lately that decent models are running off production lines,” he added.
He has developed a range of transport and logistics management courses at Huddersfield, which is one of the top universities for courses in this important area of business.
Meanwhile, the AA said today that consumers need clearer signs that wholesale price reductions in oil are being passed on to them.
As oil prices continue to fluctuate, the Automobile Association said it was more concerned with petrol prices coming down than people’s “vested interest” in talking up the cost of oil.
The motoring organisation’s calls came after a report predicted that oil will return to $100 a barrel once the world economy recovers.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) found that by 2030 prices will even exceed $200 a barrel.
