Back to the drawing board

Questions are being raised about the long-term security and sustainability of energy supplies. Many energy analysts, including a bipartisan Australian Senate inquiry and the US Auditor-General, warn of the probability of a “peak” in global petroleum production, followed by an inexorable decline in global supplies. Such insecurity of petroleum supply would bring enormous challenges for the transport systems of our oil-addled cities.

Encouragingly, the Brisbane City Council last year formed an independent taskforce of academic and private sector experts to examine the implications of climate change mitigation and peak oil for the city. The taskforce report was released in late March and sets out, in detail, the enormity of the task the city faces in responding to the climate change and energy challenge. The taskforce recommends a target of zero net household greenhouse emissions by 2020, including car use, as well as a reduction in the city’s oil consumption of 50 per cent by 2026.

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