China’s answer to high diesel prices

The world is reeling under the weight of high diesel prices.  That’s a cold fact, without any exaggeration.

In Metro Manila, jeepney drivers, operators and other players in the transport industry are protesting en masse, with the Department of Energy and Malacañang unable to do anything substantial but to issue promises.

During the Sept. 15-21 weekly retail cycle, the DOE said pump price of diesel in the country was P74.39 to P103.71 per liter.  The station-weighted average in Metro Manila was P97.11 per liter.

The increases and their rates have been as consistent as the arrow of time.  Sept. 8 was a prior jump of P5.18 per liter.  Sept. 15 was another massive increase of P4.31.

As if this was not enough, the government announced another big-time oil price hike on Sept. 22.  Diesel is expected to spike by an additional P10.50 to eleven pesos per liter, while gasoline will increase by P4.50 to five pesos.

We can all blame the crisis on US President Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu’s war in West Asia, the semi-closure of the Strait of Hormuz, and all the war-like policies of the US Department of War.

Diesel is the globe’s primordial fuel. It drives the economy—the lifeblood of freight because it runs trucks, trains, cargo ships and delivery vans.  It is used to run heavy farm equipment, factories and construction machinery, along with many cars and SUVs.  Governments and business communities depend on diesel to operate.

With diesel prices so high, ordinary Filipinos, Americans, Japanese, Europeans and Asians will suffer because of high prices of food, services, medical care, education and most about any human need.

This fuel is so important that Trump had instructed Ukrainian leader Zelensky not to bomb Russia’s oil refineries, because the American public will suffer at the gas stations.  Prices of diesel in the US have surged to over $6 per gallon in September.

This ironic coming as it is from the president of the country that has abetted and promoted the war in Ukraine.

Are we hopeless, then?

It is good to note that China has a solution to the diesel crisis.

China has now dominated the electric vehicle market, the motorcycles, sedans and SUVs.  The same market strength is now being deployed in the electric bus segment.

It was reported that China was the first country to electrify the bus fleets in urban mass transit, with mass adoption completed in the early 2020’s.  Leading Chinese electric bus manufacturers like BYD, Yutong, and Higer are rapidly expanding in Europe, Asia and South America.  They are also winning large contracts over legacy brands in the bus fleet international market.

China’s research and development in the area of electric buses is still in its early development, and more innovations are expected to come.