Dreaming of the day when H2O drives us all forward

Jun 18 2008 Matt Johnson

IT'S a long way from the gates of the Stanlow oil refinery to sunny California, yet the distance appeared to be covered in the blink of an eye earlier this week.

At Stanlow, it was the dispute involving tanker drivers which grabbed our attention, prompting the appearance of some Corporal Jones-style "Don't Panic" headlines on the front pages.

It would be interesting, one day, to calculate just how much panic this type of coverage generates.

In one national newspaper, a story imploring drivers not to panic buy was followed the next day by pictures of empty supermarket shelves in Spain where shortages and, yes, panic buying, were caused by a lorry drivers' protest over fuel prices.

There's not always a lot of logic in the way our national media serves us our daily diet of news, is there?

It's not just the tanker drivers' pay dispute which has focused minds on energy this week. On the M6, lorry drivers staged a number of go slows to protest over tax levels on fuel, and, inevitably, the green lobby applauded Manchester's bid to secure Government backing for a form of congestion charging.

All of these have a bearing on business.

Nobody is immune from rising energy costs.

Increasingly, or so it seems, there is a view that the UK Government is using tax as a means of ensuring it meets its internationally agreed carbon emissions targets. Price people out of the market for carbon fuels and your emissions will drop.

There's not a lot of finesse in such a blunt approach, and there is a very high degree of risk, not least when the time comes for fuel users to decide where to place the cross on their ballot paper.

If another MP were to follow David Davis' route to a snap by-election by deciding to stand on a fuel tax ticket, I am fairly sure he (or she) would capture a lot of attention, and depending on their stance, a lot of votes too.

Whether that happens or not, energy topics are now more firmly on the political agenda than ever before.

The world's major motor manufacturers know that, too.

In California on Monday, Honda's US subsidiary officially pushed the start button on a new production line building hydrogen-powered cars. It marks the first commercial production of a zero-emission; hydrogen fuel- cell powered vehicle which its makers say can be leased at a cost of around £300 per month.

That's a lot less than many UK road users currently spend on fuel alone. And, for the time being at least, hydrogen is cheaper to produce than petrol.

Queue here for a spot of California dreamin'.

MATT JOHNSON is chairman of Mando Group