Page 961 - Week 03 - Tuesday, 29 March 2011
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The International Energy Agency suggests that the responsibility for dealing with peak oil rests with governments. Policies need to ensure that oil is not only used efficiently but measures are adopted to ensure the development of alternatives to oil. The timing of peak oil would then be a consequence of proactive policy and not the result of a diminishing resource.
The implications of peak oil occurring as the result of a resource constraint are significant. Major impacts emerging over a long period of time would be experienced throughout the economy, particularly those sectors with a high energy demand, including industrial production, resource industries, commercial and private transportation, and agriculture.
Modern economies are overly reliant on oil as it pervades almost every aspect of our daily lives. Even under the most optimistic of scenarios, the delay in peak oil only provides governments with breathing space to incentivise a transition of their economies to alternatives. Peak oil is something we need to factor into our energy security planning to manage the transition in a way that has the minimum impact on the reliability of our supplies and the welfare of our community.
So how secure are we? As we have seen, peak oil is a complex global issue that has vast implications for the global economy and the welfare of the world’s people. In Australia, energy security and liquid fuel security are managed federally, between state and territory governments, the commonwealth and a number of non-government organisations in the energy supply chain.
These arrangements are coordinated under the Ministerial Council on Energy. Recent changes agreed by COAG will see this council merge with the Ministerial Council on Mineral and Petroleum Resources to form a new Standing Council on Energy and Resources. These changes should lead to further integration of energy and security of supply policies across all jurisdictions.
Under the Ministerial Council on Energy sits the National Oil Supplies Emergency Committee, or NOSEC as it is known. It provides overall management response to a national liquid fuel emergency. NOSEC comprises representatives of the commonwealth, the states and territories and the downstream petroleum industry, including AIP, Shell, ExxonMobil, Caltex, BP and Woolworths.
NOSEC manages the national liquid fuel emergency response plan, which details how Australian governments would respond to a fuel disruption with national implications. The ACT government is a member of NOSEC and participates in emergency simulations. A meeting in June will include an exercise to run through an emergency response plan that has been developed by the group. Following that, an ACT emergency response plan will be further refined.
The Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism in the commonwealth commissioned a study to examine Australia’s current level of liquid fuel vulnerability and significant trends that may affect Australia until 2020 as part of the work of NOSEC. The liquid fuel vulnerability assessment comprehensively explores issues
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