High oil prices are causing some major headaches, but can we distract something positive out of this situation? The demand for oil keeps increasing while at the same time there is a somewhat opposite demand for greener solutions.

Also, population in China and India keeps increasing, so it is likely that the demand will only increase in the coming year. There is just one solution: more innovation. To lower the price of oil (perhaps futile), to make sure we have alternatives for oil and to make sure that we use oil in a climate neutral way if usage keeps increasing. The innovation pipeline looks promising: plastics that need no oil or can be made from plants instead of oil. We see an increasing demand for hybrid cars that are super efficient in their use of oil. And we see alternative energy sources, the high oil price makes us look at possible solutions that earlier were too expensive to consider.

An innovative example is for example provided by the Dutch firm Peer +, they want to provide Smart Energy Glass. Their windows contain see-through solar panels that are able to extract electricity out of unused sunlight. It is not as efficient as normal solar panels, but it could be attractive for large buildings with lots of glass. Why not? We are pushed by the high oil price to come up with new innovative solutions that provide us with energy and a green solution at the same time.

An interesting challenge.

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Sven van de Riet, 20 Jun 2008 - 4:02, 590x read