[b][url=http://www.coolibahconsulting.com.au/archive/speeches/2010speech01.html]The nation is searching for fuel alternatives as we run out of crude[/url][/b] by Keith Orchison of Coolibah Consulting
From this and other quotes by Keith Orchison it is very clear that the fuel industry itself clearly understands that fossil fuels are finite and subject to the peak and subsequent decline known as ‘peak oil’.
[quote]The huge trade deficit that Australia is confronting in transport fuels has widened with the federal government now predicting that it will grow from $16 billion this year to $30bn in 2015.
The problem arises from a decline in Australia’s oil supply from 100 per cent self sufficiency in 2000 to 54 per cent in 2008 with the level forecast to be just 18 per cent in 2030 when demand is expected to reach 470 million barrels a year while supply slumps to 80 million barrels.[/quote]
Because they are ‘in the business’ it is probably unrealistic to expect the fuel industry itself to support the notion that one solution might be to reduce consumption.
Using less fossil fuel (whether oil gas or coal) will also reduce greenhouse gas emissions which the fuel also seems fully and frankly aware of.
While the fuel industry struggles to find more product from increasingly difficult and risky sources (oil shale deep ocean wells coal seam gas etc) individuals and local communities (like The Grove) can make a valuable contribution by taking collective action to reduce demand.