by Nick Cooke
World prices for crude oil and its derivatives are up twice what they were a decade ago, for a multi-dimensional plethora of reasons. Big China, since reintegrating Hong Kong and Macao, is active in petro-market futures in order to secure its energy needs through the early part of this century. Pessimistic pundits prognosticate prices of up to US$150-a-barrel before this 2-double-O decade ends.
The recent protests that resulted from bus fare increases highlight the need to address looming concerns over increased energy demands and fuel costs.
In addition to transportation concerns, 80% of Nicaragua’s electricity is generated by burning fossil fuels. Besides insufficient funds to purchase these fuels, capacity to generate adequate supplies of electricity is also a cause for immediate future concern.
Most of the remaining 20% of electrical production is produced from geothermal sources.
