If you needed proof we are in the post-peak oil, extreme energy age one need just look at where the Government is going for their next fix. The Government has recently announced the first tranche of the MoBIE Science and Investment Round which included $3.2 million funding for gas hydrate exploration.
peak oil
What Greece’s motorways mean for NZ
No one could say that Greece’s heavy spending on motorways directly caused their default crisis. I’m certainly not saying that. There were many factors at play, though certainly borrowing to pay for projects that were not the best at reducing transport costs certainly didn’t help. From 2000 to 2006 alone Greece spent nearly half of […]
Bus review needs to electrify Wellington
Big changes are ahead for our buses and the regional council wants to know what you think. Today I launched our easy electronic submission guide alongside 11 barrels of oil — the amount of oil our electric trolley bus fleet saves Wellington each day. The regional council’s bus review is proposing to abandon electric trolley […]
Frack No! Sign the Petition
A lot of New Zealanders have not yet heard about hydraulic fracturing (fracking), but many of those who do know something about it are worried, and rightly so! The technique is used to extract ‘unconventional’ oil and gas – that’s industry speak for sources of hydrocarbons that until recently were deemed too expensive or difficult to […]
Boom times for oil and gas?
This morning’s Dominion article about ‘boom times’ for the gas and oil exploration industry is an intriguing, even slightly funny, mix of boosterism, drum beating and dissimulation. The Chair of PEPANZ appears almost breathless with excitement as he seeks to fulfil the primary objective of his organisation, “to publicise, promote and advance the interests of […]
Leave oil before oil leaves us
‘Auckland Unleashed’ is the catchy title of the draft discussion document that will inform the proposed Auckland Spatial plan. In an earlier blog post I indicated the political battle looming between Auckland’s elected councillors and central Government, who have very different visions for the city’s future. Auckland City’s discussion document makes the case for a compact city, […]
Where’s the plan?
Today the UK Government released its draft Carbon Plan containing some 130 actions and targets to reduce emissions. With petrol prices nearing record highs, UK Energy Secretary, Chris Huhne, said Britain had no option but to speed up efforts to move away from oil. “Getting off the oil hook is made all the more urgent […]
August 13 2011: Nice day for a ***** *******
August 13 is apparently the only day Her Britannic Majesty has free next year. So I suppose that is the date. It’s a pity this will be such a distraction from the real issues half a world away here in Aotearoa / New Zealand, where we desperately need to address climate change, peak oil, social […]
Flight tax vs oil price
I have posted earlier about the PM’s short sightedness when it comes to considering the potential impacts of oil price increases on tourism, versus his loud complaining about the potential impacts of flight taxes being imposed by the UK govt. But I wondered if it was possible to quantify the comparison between the departure tax […]
Key in denial about inevitable impact of carbon charges and oil shocks
John Key’s reaction to the distance-based UK departure tax shows just how out of touch he is about our economic future. This Government is deeply in denial. There is no question that climate change and rising fossil fuel prices will change travel patterns, and we should be taking this future into account in our tourism […]