Canberra Times - For Survivalists, The End Is Always Nigh

THE end, when it comes, will be swift. A spiralling economy and diminishing oil supplies will lead to power outages, food shortages, a breakdown in law and order, and ultimately, complete societal collapse. "I anticipate that it'll happen quite fast, like the bushfires," says Tony, a 44-year-old ex-stockbroker.

Tony, who lives with his wife and three young children in Baulkham Hills, has been stockpiling supplies including rice, multivitamins, peanut butter and honey - "Stuff you don't need to cook or refrigerate and that is high in calories" - plus plenty of soap and toilet paper. "Sanitation will break down as sewerage [systems] clog because people will be unable to maintain the infrastructure. So we'll see diseases like cholera and typhoid."

Tony (who didn't want his second name used), is part of a new wave of Australian survivalists, a disparate group that includes peak oilers, permaculturalists and "transition teams" that are making plans for what they see as the coming apocalypse. Such people used to fret about nuclear Armageddon or Y2K: today, it's more likely to be global warming, shrinking oil reserves and financial collapse.

Drive.com.au - Toyota's seaweed car makes a splash
Wired - Toyota Wants to Build Car From Seaweed

Toyota's engineers are trying to plot a course for the post-oil age, and plastics for structures and trim made from plants could be used to make cars of the future, says the manager of Toyota's Australian styling studio, Paul Beranger.

For now, Mr Beranger and his designers have focused on localising the look of the much-heralded petrol-electric hybrid Camry, which will be displayed in "concept" form at Friday's motor show opening in Melbourne.

Wall Street Journal - BG Raises Leading Bid for Pure Energy
International Herald Tribune - BG raises bid for Pure to A$8.25 per share

BG Group raised its bid for Australian coal seam gas firm Pure Energy Ltd to A$8.25 a share, on Friday and declared its offer final.

BG, which already owns 29 percent of Pure, is locked in a takeover tussle with Australia's Arrow Energy , which has about a 20 percent stake in Pure.

frogblog - More Aucklanders leave their cars at home

Yesterday’s Herald detailed further dramatic rises in growth of public transport patronage in Auckland. ARTA statistics show public transport patronage grew eight percent in 2008 to almost 58 million trips—a level not seen since 1984.

The figures at a glance:
>> 18% more rail journeys to 7.2 million passenger trips in 2008
>> 7% more bus trips (86% more using the Northern Express)
>> 2% decline in ferry trips

Rail patronage growth of these proportions demonstrates that ARTA are right on track to reach their growth target of 15.7 million passenger trips by 2016. Well done!

SMH - Special bus lanes slow to a crawl

FEWER than half the 43 high-speed, high-frequency bus corridors pledged by the State Government four years ago are in operation across Sydney, despite more than $131 million invested in the program so far.

Just 17 so-called "strategic bus corridors" had been implemented as of December, after the Government committed to the program in its May 2005 budget. The year before, it had formed the core recommendation of the Unsworth Review into bus reforms.

Bloomberg - AGL to Approve A$1.1 Billion Gas, Wind Power Projects

AGL Energy Ltd., Australia’s biggest power and gas retailer, expects to approve about A$1.1 billion ($716 million) of wind- and gas-fired generation this year for construction as it boosts investments in cleaner electricity.

ABC - Desalination plant proposed near Albany

The Water Corporation has identified two locations near Albany, on Western Australia's south coast, as potential sites for a desalination plant.

Peak Energy - Australian Internet Censorship Plan Hits Roadblock

The SMH reports that independent Senator Nick Xenophon is going to scuttle the government's mandatory internet censorship plan - Web censorship plan heads towards a dead end. Please re-elect him South Australians.

Peak Energy - 6.4 Gigawatts of Offshore Wind Farms Slated for Scotland

Peak Energy - Wave Energy to Bring Power and Jobs to San Francisco

Peak Energy - Inching Toward a Smarter Grid

Peak Energy - Climate change lays waste to Spain's glaciers

Peak Energy - Bulgaria's nuclear dilemma

Peak Energy - Niall Ferguson: There Will Be Blood