[Peakoil] Aust urged to reduce oil dependence

[Antony Barry]

From: http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200608/s1725370.htm

Aust urged to reduce oil dependence

An American energy expert is pushing for Australia to sign up to an  
international protocol to reduce its dependence on petroleum.

The Oil Depletion Protocol calls for nations to reduce their  
petroleum production and importation by 2.6 per cent each year - and  
gradually wean themselves off oil altogether.

Richard Heinberg, from the US-based Post-Carbon Institute, says  
countries such as Iceland and Ireland are making strong progress and  
Sweden has pledged to eliminate its oil dependency by 2020.

"It seems like an extraordinary step to voluntarily give up this  
resource that's given us such economic benefits over the last 150  
years, but I'm afraid that unless we do, the withdrawal symptoms are  
going to be nearly fatal," he said.

Mr Heinberg says if the world does not drastically reduce its  
petroleum consumption immediately, there will be dire social and  
economic consequences as the supply of oil diminishes.

He says the international protocol requires nations to gradually  
reduce their petroleum use by switching to renewable fuels - and  
finding less energy intensive ways of living.

"The best thing we can do is wean ourselves from it and the Oil  
Depletion Protocol provides a way of doing that," he said.

"Reduction of about 2.6 per cent a year and if the nations of the  
world signed on, the result would be a stabilisation of oil prices  
and, second, a reduction in competition and potential conflict over  
the world's remaining oil resources."


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