A new CSIRO report on Australia’s future fuel challenges should prompt Federal and State governments to massively invest in public transport and help reconfigure our vehicle manufacturing industry to produce cleaner cars, according to the Australian Conservation Foundation.
The report, Fuel for thought: the future of transport fuels: challenges and opportunities, looks at the need to dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions from Australia’s transport sector and how Australia can best deal with the reality of peak oil.
“This report puts policy makers on notice about government’s clear role to prepare Australia for the twin realities of climate change and increasingly scarce and expensive oil,” said ACF’s Sustainable Australia program manager Monica Richter.
“Australia’s economy has been shaped by cheap and abundant oil,” Ms Richter said.
“Transport is responsible for about 14 per cent of our total greenhouse emissions. When considering the design of Australia’s emissions trading scheme, the Government cannot just ignore emissions from transport.”
The report recognises the pain caused by soaring fuel prices and supports government investment in public transport. However, it also sees a future where fully electric vehicles are the norm.
“The CSIRO modelling predicts plug-in electric vehicles could account for about two-thirds of the kilometres travelled in Australia by 2050, so there is an urgent need for governments to help manufacturers re-tool to build cleaner cars here in Australia,” Ms Richter said.
“Decarbonising our society is a big challenge, but the sooner we start the easier it will be and the less it will cost us.”
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