While the world is talking about scope of biofuel in combating soaring oil prices, a youth of Palpa district ran a motorcycle using oil he refined from pine resin as fuel on Sunday.
Keshav Karki, a resident of Jarepipal, collected resin produced by pine trees and refined into oil through steam distillation.

Here is good news for automobile dealers and riders. Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) is planning to introduce high-octane petrol in the market soon, which will give better mileage and ensure engine longevity compared to the existing gasoline.

The government is due to implement a new policy in the supply of the petroleum products after Tihar.
According to the policy, the price of the petroleum product will increase with the increase in the international market and vice versa.

The Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) said Thursday that it has managed to improve petrol availability, but has slashed the supply of diesel and kerosene -- the two major loss making items -- augmenting their shortage in the market.
The corporation is presently pumping out about 110,000 liters of diesel a day in the Kathmandu Valley, shows NOC records. This is just about 40 percent of what used to be consumed here during normal times.

Respite for customers, often distressed by the long-running fuel shortage, is receding further into the distance. Petrol pumps across the country downed their shutters from Monday in protest against the inadequate supplies being distributed by the Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) while transporters have stopped carrying fuel demanding more money as the price in diesel has gone up.

- Consumers were hit by another fuel shortage since Sunday after as petroleum dealers halted distribution because of a dispute with the Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC). NOC officials said that an agreement had been reached Monday evening, and the dealers would resume distribution Tuesday. The dealers said they stopped selling fuel as NOC had forced upon them a new set of directives related to retail prices of fuel, extent of technical leakage, and transportation cost. The petrol scarcity, which had been running for months, had faded away after a price revision last week.

A turbine with the capacity of generating 16 MW electricity here at Kulekhani II Hydro Electric Project has resumed operation since Friday. The turbine was badly damaged one year ago.

Hospitals in the capital have been forced to use firewood to cook food for patients due to the shortage of cooking gas in the market. Director of Patan Hospital Dr Rajesh Gongol said that the hospital has no option than to use firewood to cook food for patients. Similarly, students' hostel at the Institute of Medicine, Maharajgunj has also started cooking food with firewood. Likewise, TU Teaching Hospital (TUTH) has instructed its staffers to bring food and snacks from home as the staff canteen has stopped serving the staffers due to lack of cooking gas, said Dr Mahesh Khakurel, executive director of TUTH. Buddhi Pant, a staffer of Bhaktapur Hospital said that an ambulance of the hospital that runs on gas has halted its service due to the lack of gas. Similarly, the staff bus also stopped operating from Wednesday. However, the hospital is getting its cooking gas. Posted on: 2008-02-21 21:01:31 (Server Time)

Foodstuffs are running low and the prices of fresh vegetables have shot up as deliveries were disrupted by the tarai banda which has entered its sixth day. Traders warn that if the supply situation worsens, the resulting acute shortage of food and vegetables would lead to further price rises. "Rice and oil stocks held by major wholesalers in the Kathmandu Valley are down to half of normal levels,' Satish Kumar Bohara, joint secretary of the Nepal Rice, Oil and Pulse Producers Association, told the Post. According to Bohara, stockpiles of rice and oil have dwindled to 5,000 and 1,500 tons respectively in the marketplace. "The existing supply can fulfill the needs of the valley's 2.5 million population for hardly seven to 10 days,' he said. "The prices of foodstuffs, which are sourced mainly from the eastern tarai, will skyrocket due to the severe scarcity.' He attributed the disruption in supply to the tarai unrest, fuel shortage and load-shedding, which has brought production to a complete halt at rice mills. The banda in the tarai has also impacted the transport of vegetables, and fewer shipments are arriving at the marketplace. According to Binaya Shrestha, planning officer of the Kalimati Fruits and Vegetables Market Development Board (KFVMDB), the inflow of vegetables at the Kalimati wholesale market has plummeted to around 500 tons per day from over 750 tons a week ago. Vegetables from India and the tarai account for 25 percent of the total supply during this season. "The delivery of fish and lemons from India was almost nil during the past week,' Shrestha said. However, traders said that the prices of popular vegetables, barring some items, had not gone up because of the bumper harvests in the districts around the Kathmandu Valley. Tarai farmers are supplying vegetables at throwaway prices to the valley, which is the only major market for them. "But this state of affairs will not last for long. If the transport situation does not improve immediately, a hike in vegetable prices is inevitable because of the exorbitant freight charged by carriers,' said Bhoj Raj Rimal, a wholesaler of fresh vegetables at Kalimati. According to him, truckers have jacked up their rates to Rs 27,000 from Rs 15,000 previously for carrying a load of vegetables to Kathmandu from Lahan, a major vegetable trading hub. The collection, processing and delivery of dairy products have also been thrown into chaos by load-shedding and the acute fuel shortage which has resulted in fewer vehicles plying on the roads, said dairy producers. "Despite the problems, we have managed to get by so far,' said Sumit Kedia, general secretary of the Dairy Producers Association. He added that milk collection, processing and delivery would come to a complete halt if the fuel supply did not improve soon. Private dairies collect around 350,000 liters of milk daily from more than half a dozen districts. Posted on: 2008-02-18 22:10:15 (Server Time)

The Ministry of Water Resources formed a committee on Sunday with the task of suggesting ways for the immediate solution to the chronic power crisis facing the nation, said Anup Kumar Upadhyay, joint-secretary at the Ministry.