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Peak Oil? broadcaset by Four Corners, ABC, Reporter: Jonathan Holmes [2006 July 10]

"... there are sober voices warning that demand for oil could soon outstrip supply, with potentially devastating consequences for us all."

Natural Gas: “Magic Pudding” or Depleting Resource [2002 November]

Earlier this year statements on Australia’s expected rapid decline in oil self-sufficiency were published by ... Akehurst ... and ... Jones ... in the context of the approaching decline of world oil production....

Both advocated that Australia shift to natural gas-based transport fuels, and that transport demand management and public transport infrastructure provision should have a high priority.... Industry and governments promote visions of vast quantities of cheap natural gas which should be rapidly developed and sold off. A “Magic Pudding” mentality prevails, reminiscent of Norman Lindsay’s famous story where no matter how much of the “pudding” was eaten there was always more left to eat.

These visions ignore the finite nature of the resource, its strategic importance in the transition to a world 'beyond petroleum', and the implications of 90 per cent of our natural gas being located offshore from the north west coast. But do we have vast reserves of natural gas as we are led to believe? ... This paper elaborates on the serious oil shortages Australia faces and the limited scope for natural gas based fuels to substitute for petrol and diesel in the context of an approaching world decline in oil production.

The future of energy, from Future Dilemmas: Options to 2050 for Australia’s population, technology, resources and environment, report to the Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs, by CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems, Barney Foran and Franzi Poldy. On page 16 the authors mention Fleay and others posted on this website, and then proceed to ignore their message. What gives here? [October 2002]

See several articles by Charlie Richardson, hosted by Eco-Transit Sydney.

Remember the oil shocks of the 1970s...?
[T]he spectre of a world running out of cheap oil has been revisited by former Perth engineer Mr. Brian Fleay in his book The Decline of the Age of Oil: Petrol Politics: Australia's Road Ahead. Also available is Climaxing Oil, a comprehensive article on the future of oil with emphasis upon the Australian situation, by Mr. Fleay.

Running on Empty
The Australian
Thursday, 24 Oct 1996
page 27
The world still has plenty of oil, but extracting it is becoming increasingly expensive. JOHN MACLEAY reports.

A related article:
Engineer in Race to Develop Oil Alternative
The Australian
Thursday, 24 Oct 1996
page 27
CALIFORNIAN solar engineer Ron Swenson believes in working on technologies that could one day provide a substitute for oil - and bringing them on-stream in a reasonable time frame - instead of hand-wringing over dwindling reserves. JOHN MACLEAY reports.

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