The Oil Drum Goes Down Under

The Oil Drum has recently gone ‘down under’ with an Antipodean site, The Oil Drum: Australia/New Zealand.

As I suggested in an earlier post, don’t rely on governments or oil companies to tell you about peak oil - the maximum limit of world oil production which many experts consider has already occurred or will occur soon. The NZ Government, for instance, recently released the “New Zealand Energy Strategy to 2050″. You’d expect peak oil would warrant more serious attention than a few paragraphs, given the significant concerns that a range of experts – including people who have held senior positions in the oil industry – have about the peak’s imminent timing, and about how conventional oil is not substitutable (in any serious way) by oil sands and biofuels.  But the Government’s view on peak oil is essentially “move along, nothing to see here”:

“So while there will, at some point, be peak ‘cheap’ oil from conventional sources, the world has plentiful sources of fossil-based oil.” (NZES page 47).

Read about peak oil, transport and sustainability here at The Oil Drum: Australia/New Zealand.

Some Practical Motoring Advice

Thank goodness we’ve got the NZ Automobile Association (AA) giving us practical advice on dealing with the end of the era of cheap oil. In this Stuff article, AA spokesman Mark Stockdale suggests that one way to beat the petrol price hike is to use supermarket petrol discount vouchers:

“It’s definitely worth shopping around. You can save a lot of money by shopping somewhere else and picking up your petrol somewhere else with one of the vouchers.”

Sounds great, but hang on, let’s check the math. Mr Stockale says that most vouchers offer on average a discount of 4c a litre of petrol. The petrol tank of my car takes 45 litres. 45 litres x 4c = $1.80. So, I’ve slashed $1.80 off the cost of a tank fill. If I fill my car’s tank every week (I don’t but let’s pretend) then 52 weeks x $1.80…I save $93.60 per year. 

Am I missing something here? Or is this one of those ‘bargains’ that aren’t really bargains? Sorry AA, but $1.80 a week doesn’t seem like “a lot of money” to me. Try giving your members better advice, like leaving the car in the garage and walking or cycling.

>> “Extremely Lame”

Vehicle Emissions Standards vs Vested Interests

 

Question time in Parliament today was soporific. I dozed after listening to Ministers batting off questions on the Electoral Finance Bill, so missed Jeanette Fitzsimmon’s question on vehicle exhaust emission standards. Thankfully there is Hansard for the transcript.

To recap, this was Ms Fitzsimmon’s question to the Associate Minister of Transport:

Q. “Does she expect proposed vehicle exhaust emissions standards to reduce the number of premature deaths from air pollution from vehicle exhausts; if so, how many lives does she expect this rule change could save?”

The Minister’s reply was the expected ‘Yes’. What was more interesting was Ms Fitzsimmon’s first supplementary question, and the Minister’s reply:

Q. “Will the Government stand firm on its proposed schedule for emissions standards in the face of industry pressure from both the Imported Motor Vehicle Dealers Association and, more surprisingly, the Consumers Institute of New Zealand, which both seem to believe that cheap cars are more important than saving lives?”

A. “Yes. The Government will stand firm on its proposal to improve the quality of the fleet coming into New Zealand by ensuring emissions standards are put in place. It is notable that the proposals being put up by the used-car dealers are simply aimed at having every sector of the car industry pay the costs, except those who import used cars. We are far too used to having shonky, old, worn-out, “clocked” vehicles brought into this country and foisted on the public; it is time we had some better-quality vehicles.”

Let’s hope the Government holds the line. For too long, New Zealand has imported second hand, clapped out and polluting vehicles from Japan – we’ve become a dumping ground for wrecks. This scheme benefits used car dealers, while the rest of us pay the costs, such as air pollution, traffic congestion, and declining use of public transport.

In Parliament Today

Here is today’s list of oral questions in the NZ House of Representatives. National will continue to attack the Government on the Electoral Finance Bill and the Clare Curran hiring debacle at the Ministry for the Environment. There are also two sustainability and climate change-related questions to listen for:

• Hone Harawira (Maori Party) to the Minister responsible for Climate Change: “Is he happy with the Government’s commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions; if so, why?”; and

• Jeanette Fitzsimmons (Green Party) to the Associate Minister of Transport: “Does she expect proposed vehicle exhaust emissions standards to reduce the number of premature deaths from air pollution from vehicle exhausts; if so, how many lives does she expect this rule change could save?”.

Tune in at 2pm.