Petrol 334.9

Not quite yet, but that's what Caltex are predicting - within a decade (Justin Lloyd).


This futuristic image ran on the front cover of the company's magazine, with the headline story "Petrol at what price?". Speaking about long-term high prices, Des King (managing director) writes "it is a prospect we all have to face".

Green Jobs

Occassionally you might hear concerns about the effect on jobs, resulting from lowering carbon emissions. Well, fear not. The CSIRO has compiled a report on the green economy, and it seems to be very good news.


According to the report, Australia can make significant cuts to greenhouse gases, and at the same time create about 3 million jobs. Mr Don Henry (ACF) said, “CSIRO has shown we can simultaneously grow jobs and our economy while reducing our environmental footprint. The challenge is big, but so are the opportunities.”

More info: CSIRO report; ACF analysis.

Queensland's Future

Yesterday the Queensland Government released the report Climate Change in Queensland: What the Science is Telling Us. The report detailed the local impact of climate change.

"No part of the Queensland community will be untouched by the impact of global warming" said Andrew McNamara, minister for Climate Change, "Queensland is getting hotter, rainfall is decreasing and the incidence of extreme weather events is increasing.”

Details include
-By 2070, Queensland is projected to be up to 5°C hotter
-A greater proportion of total rainfall now falls in extreme events
-Longer periods between rainfall events
-Increased intensity of tropical cyclones

Most concerning was the analysis that "the worst case climate change scenarios (predicted back in 2000) now present the most accurate picture of what is happening."

For more info, see the media release, or download the report.

Another Good Reason

As if climate change wasn't a good enough reason to reduce petrol consumption, Alan Kohler (ABC News) gives us this information.


The red line is how much oil is discovered each year. The blue line is how much is consumed - including future predictions. It doesn't take Alan Kohler to realise where the price is going to go (and keep going).

Efficien-City

Over at Greenpeace UK, they've put together a cool interactive animation called Efficien-city, that shows just how a city can run efficently using renewable power, and shows how some of the lesser-known renewables work (like wave power for instance).


I dropped in for a visit, and found it to be quite fun.

Fantastic Ad

The guys at GetUp have put together a great spoof ad. The target is the government's proposed Fuelwatch scheme that has been in the news in recent weeks.

Apart from being incredibly funny (in my opinion) the ad also points out that there are far better solutions (better vehicles, alternative fuels, public transport).

Saving Money on Fuel

Amongst all the recent huff about the cost of petrol, i received this picture as an attachment. I liked it.

Let's Encourage Solar Power

You may have heard recently that the federal government plans to introduce restrictions on who can claim the solar power rebate. The result is that is slows down the solar industry.

In fact, the environment minister even said in parliament that the uptake of solar power was "overheating" (a poor choice of words, given the global warming connection). But i still don't get why a fast uptake of solar power is a bad thing. I would have thought that the environment minister would be encouraging solar power.


So if, like me, you think that the government should encourage the use of solar power, ACF has a webpage where you can send an e-card to the environment minister. Alternatively, you can send an email to Kevin Rudd, or the climate change minister (Penny Wong) via the Federal Government links i've listed in the right hand column.