Peak Oil is You
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Page added on April 11, 2012
Peak oil spells disaster
GLOBAL oil shortages and rising fuel costs could spell disaster for Australia’s agricultural industry.
That’s the dire warning from Australian Association of the Study of Peak Oil and Gas (ASPO) convenor Bruce Robinson.
He said farmers needed to be more alert to so-called peak oil, estimated to occur within the next five years.
“We have a crazy situation where we operate under the assumption that fuel availability will remain the same as it is now,” he said.
“Currently governments, economists, industry, investors and the community are all turning a blind eye to the probability of serious oil shortages and ongoing oil scarcity within a few years.
Mr Robinson likened the situation of oil shortages to Noah’s Ark and said planning has to occur now “before the flood because you can’t build an ark under water”.
“We need to be planning for sudden fuel shortages and for the permanent fuel shortages which will happen once peak oil arrives,” he said.
“Farmers need to think how a rise in fuel costs and fuel shortages resulting from a world oil shortage may affect their businesses and the decisions they make.”
Due to being heavily reliant on oil, the Australian agricultural industry is at risk from the issues surrounding future global oil shortages and increased costs.
Mr Robinson said a whole-of-industry approach was needed to look at the consequences of peak oil so farmers could begin to plan and safeguard their businesses.
Mr Robinson said there had been a number of important reports warning about future oil scarcity, authored from the International Monetary Fund, the Macquarie Bank, Lloyds of London and Australia’s Bureau of Infrastructure Transport and Regional Economics.
“Nobody seems to be taking any notice,” he said.
Kalannie farmer Ed Sawyer said the effect on his business would be huge as fuel was one of his biggest expenses.
Like many farmers Mr Sawyer said he was heavily reliant on fuel and believed the unpredictability of farming made it worse.
“Even things like the weather can affect our fuel use,” he said.
“We received more rain over summer, so we have used more fuel due to our summer weed spraying program.”
Mr Sawyer said his business was a long way from being safeguarded against world oil problems and the effects fuel shortages would have, and was unsure of how he could plan to combat global oil scarcity issues.
“If I couldn’t get fuel I wouldn’t be able to make an income,” he said.
Mr Robinson agreed that many farmers were in the same situation to Mr Sawyer and said more talk was needed around the issues that arise from global oil shortages by governments and industry, so people could work out how to start planning, to help mitigate risks from issues surrounding world oil shortages.
“We have a situation where we have trucks driving around selling bottled water and governments doing things like trying to close rail infrastructure but widening freeways,” he said. “It doesn’t make sense in the face of rising fuel costs, and future oil scarcity.”
10 Comments on "Peak oil spells disaster"
BillT on Thu, 12th Apr 2012 2:06 am
It is not only the farmers, but all of us, and yes, governments everywhere are ‘business as usual’ because they don’t want to tell the voters what is coming. They know what happens to the messenger that bares bad news. Look at Carter…
Kenz300 on Thu, 12th Apr 2012 4:09 am
Peak Oil or the rising cost of oil will be passed on to everything else that we buy. Oil price inflation is food price inflation. It takes oil to till a field, plant a crop, harvest it and to take it to market. It takes oil to produce and deliver all the goods you find in the stores. When the price of oil goes up so will everything else.
Rusty Baker on Thu, 12th Apr 2012 8:26 am
Peak Oil theory is a term fabricated by the liberal global elitists(a.k.a the New World Order) in order to justify high oil prices. They’re wringing out our wallets while they laugh to the bank filling their coffers to the brim. Many people don’t know this but the global elites are planning to depopulate this planet. It’s an indisputable fact verified by the UN Agenda 21 plan.
The radical left-wing elitists are systematically disseminating ideas of “overpopulation”, “peak oil” and “global warming” so they can surreptitiously carry out their sinister plans of depopulation. The simple fact is that we have centuries worth of fossil fuels left, which is confirmed by prominent energy expert Daniel Yergin. What’s more, all of the world’s 7 billion people can comfortably fit in my home state of Texas. Don’t believe the liberal hype, they don’t care about human life, they want to kill us under the pretext of “saving the planet.”
The earth and fossil fuels were put here for mankind to use. God commanded us to multiply and subdue the earth, however, the Marxists want you to believe otherwise. And I’m pretty sure that God Almighty has more foresight than all of these eco-fascist government-funded scientists. Further, environmentalists are also known as “watermelons” because they are green on the outside but communist Red on the inside. They are the proverbial wolves in sheep’s clothing.
In summary, don’t believe the socialist Maoists who tell us that disaster is inevitable if we keep using fossil fuels and reproducing. Everything is doom and gloom to the liberals because they are clearly ignoring the facts. Liberals like to put the earth before humans, but that’s like putting the cart before the horse. There is no overpopulation problem. There is no peak oil crisis. There is no global warming.
BillT on Thu, 12th Apr 2012 9:03 am
Ah Rusty, you are so wrong…Blame it all on your god if you want…because that is who you will blame eventually for your narrow vision. Not yourself, of course. Yergin is your god in whom you have total faith, because you certainly do not have common sense or much intelligence…lol.
BillT on Thu, 12th Apr 2012 10:11 am
BTW Rusty, if that was meant as satire, you need to indicate it so we do not assume you are just an uneducated denier.
Arthur on Thu, 12th Apr 2012 11:34 am
Knowledge about the impending desaster will leak into the system via sites like this one and grass roots organisations like ASPO, not from our political overlords. Not that I really blame them. A politician saying openly that industrial society is over might expect the same fate as a guy, wearing a yarmulke in the middle of Mecca, proclaiming that Allah does not exist. Politicians are bad, but don’t get me started about the sheeple they lead. It is simply a tragic situation, nobody or everybody is responsible for.
John on Thu, 12th Apr 2012 5:12 pm
Wow, Rusty. You have a lot of labels there. Counter pro-terrorist Maoist anti-government liberally conservative elite Fascists, I say!
luap Simpson on Thu, 12th Apr 2012 10:34 pm
Rusty baker,you have a lot to learn, Arthur your view is spot on.
If you want to listen to experts try Richard Heinberg,Dr Colin Campbell,Matt Simmons and Micheal Meacher
Arthur on Fri, 13th Apr 2012 10:22 am
Bill, indeed, many/most politicians know the truth but cannot say. The easiest way out for them will be to blame someone else, like ‘them Arabs’ or environmentalists or the Chinese or ‘terrorrists’.
Kenz300 on Fri, 13th Apr 2012 7:39 pm
Quote — ” “Currently governments, economists, industry, investors and the community are all turning a blind eye to the probability of serious oil shortages and ongoing oil scarcity within a few years.” “We need to be planning for sudden fuel shortages and for the permanent fuel shortages which will happen once peak oil arrives,”
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Individuals, business and politicians need to develop plans to deal with higher energy prices and reduced supplies. Too few are doing so. The media has done too little to shine light on the issue.