Hi Big Gav,

Congratulations and best wishes on your launch.

WOOOHOOO! I'm ready & roarin' fer action.

Sounds excellent,

Look forward to this.

Michael

Look forward to the launch!

Maybe other Australian governments, especially national, will follow Queensland and produce their own reports on oil vulnerability.

Here is a link to Queensland's report

Queensland's vulnerability to rising oil prices - taskforce report

http://www.epa.qld.gov.au/publications?id=2190

The report's executive summary "concludes that the overwhelming evidence is that world oil production will peak within the next 10 years" and "recommends that a prudent risk mitigation approach requires a mix of initiatives such as reduction in consumption of liquid fossil fuels, encouraging the development and use of alternative fuels, technologies and strategies, and preparation for demographic and regional changes, as Queenslanders change travel, work and living habits in response to rising fuel prices".

It is a concern that oil prices are already tracking the report's worst case scenario, described by the High Oil Price Scenario on page 29 - "Prices rise from an average of $US54/barrel in 2005, to $US110-115 by 2050" Prices could reach $US110/barrel by end of 2008.

To create more awareness of peak oil, which is urgently needed, the following was stated on page 155 of the report

It should be noted that in February 2005 the International Energy Agency recommended in its report “Saving Oil in a Hurry” that member nations, of which Australia is one, commence public awareness campaigns to promote dramatic reductions in petroleum usage immediately.

A public awareness program along the lines of Water Wise, Clean Up Australia, or anti-smoking or drink driving campaigns, may be necessary to both explain rising energy costs and to garner support for the action necessary to address the problem.

New South Wales, in Australia, already has an awareness program called Energy Smart http://www.energysmart.com.au/ which could be modified to consider oil vulnerability impacts. The current mission statement is - "Energy Smart programs can help you save money and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by saving energy at home and at work". The scope of Energy Smart could be extended to include all activities that use energy, not just those at the home and at work, but also those for transportation. The focus could also change so that the reduction of greenhouse gases is treated on an equal basis with the reduction of energy consumption.

This Energy Smart modification in scope and focus could be applied to Energy Smart programs already existing in other countries and states

UK
http://www.energywatch.org.uk/help_and_advice/energysmart/index.asp
Ohio
http://www.odod.state.oh.us/cdd/oee/esc_description.htm
South Dakota
http://www.sdenergysmart.com/
Western Australia
http://www1.energysmartdirectory.com/about.asp

Just realised that there is already a program called TravelSmart which could be changed slightly to place a greater focus on reducing energy consumption. The current benefits are the following from Western Australia's TravelSmart website http://www.dpi.wa.gov.au/travelsmart/14890.asp (note that reduced energy consumption is not included)

For the community and individuals:
Reduced greenhouse gases
Less traffic, noise and pollution in local streets
Improved health from physical activity (cycling and walking - including to and from the bus stop or train station)
Improved personal security (with more people on the streets walking and cycling)
Savings in car running costs
Fewer road incidents

For the Government:
Increased public transport patronage and improved public transport cost recovery
Traffic levels reduced, resulting in less pressure to upgrade roads
Reduced pollution and greenhouse gas emissions from less car use

Other Australian TravelSmart sites

http://www.travelsmart.vic.gov.au/
http://www.transport.qld.gov.au/Home/General_information/Travelsmart/
http://www.transport.sa.gov.au/environment/travelsmartsa/index.asp
http://www.actpla.act.gov.au/topics/programs_projects/planning_studies/s...

Hello Big Gav & Phil Hart,

Congrats to TOD/DownUnder--I be looking forward to it! I hope that your forum will closely monitor, then report any new developments in Antarctica too.

Recall my highly speculative prediction that significant quantities of the Ross Ice Shelf will bust up, as per the Larsen Ice Shelf did a couple of years ago, in under 5 years or less. I could be wildly wrong, or terribly correct, but if it makes people pause to think of the resulting ramifications, then modify their FF-consumptive behavior enough to just help the Ross hold back the seaward frozen flood for a few more years--so much the better!

Bob Shaw in Phx,Az Are Humans Smarter than Yeast?

Onya Big Gav

Bigcahuna

Well done team. I look forward to adding TOD Australia to my list of compulsory Peak Oil sites, and hopefully contributing.

One aesthetic comment - the mustard yellow theme is not bad, and evocative of golden beaches and even wattle, however a lusty red ochre might be appropriate as well, although perhaps too close to TOD Central. Apart from being the dominant colour we have, it might also accurately reflect the long drought we are enduring (and I acknowledge that "wide brown" might be a tad depressing)!

Excellent! Will be ready and willing to send in news articles from NZ as they crop up!

Hi all

Looking forward to the local Drum...

Been lurking for 2 - 3 years.

Based in Auckland.

Am very interested in the economic aspects of peak oil.

Probably classed as a slow crash predicter, not a doomer.

Very happy to have our own site.

Of note, my doomerosity has gone off the scale after the NZ government "terror" arrests of Maori and environmental activists. NZ has bad weather, bad wages, inferior and decaying infrastructure, housing bubble and finance troubles, drug gangs, an overstressed health system and all the other troubles of 3rd tier "developed" counties. (Greece, Portugal, Turkey)

The one great virtue of NZ was some semblance of freedom and democracy remained. Now, not so much. With Parliament going into the second reading of a new terror act, looks like Aotearoa is just going to be another US/UK style prison. Pre-crime, thought-crime and high taxes too, hooray!

Great - Peak Energy is already daily reading.

Surely we must downscale to cope with energy descent... but must we abandon decent colour schemes along the way? :P

TOD spreading like a rash, I see...

G'day to you Gav from Pommieland, and congratulations. The colour scheme looks suspiciously like a rugby shirt!

I would be interested to see posts on the development of solar electric in Australia. You've certainly got the flat desert for it and it seems a natural for Oz, better than wind power. After all, the sun comes up every day but the wind doesn't always blow.

This from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photovoltaic_array :

In the Sahara desert, with less cloud cover and a better solar angle, one can obtain closer to 8.3 kWh/m²/day. The unpopulated area of the Sahara desert is over 9 million km², which if covered with solar panels would provide 630 terawatts total power. The Earth's current energy consumption rate is around 13.5 TW at any given moment (including oil, gas, coal, nuclear, and hydroelectric).

Australia could be shipping terawatts of electricity as far as China using high voltage DC power lines. The opportunity is vast. Will it happen? Ha! Instead we are going down because the politicians don't know how to change a light bulb.

Yes - personally I'll be glad to see the back of Howard and co - they've been worse than useless as far as ensuring our energy future and with contributing to mitgating global warming.

That said, I'm not overly enthusiastic about big party politics - I'm hoping that Labor win but the minor parties (Democrats and Greens) and independents gain the balance of power in the Senate, which might make for an energy policy more focused on renewables and efficiency.

Welcome, Big Gav!

We are The Oil Drum.  Independence is counterproductive.  You will be assimilated.

Welcome aboard...TOD's roots are spreading further and further...will you guys be covering more news from Asia as well?

Congratulations Big Gav! I've enjoyed Peak Energy Australia for a long while now, ever since I first saw it in TOD's blogroll. I hope you won't be too restrictive about cross-posting, because even if some of your posts aren't 100% written by you, a lot of them are still tremendous feats of research and good reference resources, and quite a few are of direct interest to TOD readers.

Congrats and welcome Big Gav. The Oil Drum has always been a lively place for investigation and debate. Lets hope this regional franchise can be just as dynamic. Transport is indeed a key issue for this sector, and the Solar Car Race is currently underway from Darwin to Adelaide. This year, for the first time, the cars are restricted to a maximum speed of 130 kph:

http://www.wsc.org.au/

re: The colour scheme, I am in favor of the current arrangement with black and gold. Perhaps the dominant colour can be aligned to whomever holds the Bledisloe.

Big Gav-

Congratulations on the new venue! I hope this will help provide not only a much needed regional focus but also let some of the smart-grid and viridian themes spill over from your Peak Energy blog.

Congratulations, Big Gav and TOD: Australia/NZ !

You folks have always been a hotbed of peak oil activism -- and with a unique sense of humor.

I hope some of the permaculture people read the site and can contribute.

I'm looking forward especially to the essays on TOD:Australia.

Something you might consider is DrumBeats with a theme - collections of articles around a topic like Coal or Urban Design. TOD:Canada has been separating their Round-Ups into Energy/Environment vs Economics. There are so many articles coming out, that it's one way to bring order into chaos. Also, I think themed headlines have a longer shelf-life.

Cheeers,
Bart
Energy Bulletin

Congratulations Gav.

BTW, did you see Kohler show the peak oil graph on ABC TV news on Wednesday night?

hi folks,

Great to see the enthusiasm already.

I'm currently in Tassie on what is supposed to be a holiday, but also presenting on peak oil in Hobart and Launceston at a couple of forums. Big Gav is getting us off to great start - hopefully I'll have more to contribute in the next few weeks once i'm back home.

look forward to lots of your input, not just of comments but also articles of any length and on a variety of topics. i'm also very keen to explore the psychological aspects of peak oil which Tasman was talking about.

cheers
Phil

Now that Bob Hirsh has let the cat out of the bag and there is a relationship between the economy and Peak Oil, we can take the conversation further by getting in experts to explain how the Market Economy will cope with a declining economy on the range between 3 and 7% pa.

TOD has the reputation to bring in well known and knowledgable people and if it can be shown that Governments must intervenne then we may just get Governments to become proactive.

PS. I only say we headed back to Olduvai, as it is not in the best interests of the powerful elites to have Governments back in the Planning business.

Sololeum,
Sharing the road back to Olduvai