peak oil

Bikes are considered an important part of the solution.  Here was me thinking no one in officialdom cares about peak oil.  The story was carried on the National Programme today (just before 9am news) where the new Mayor of Dunedin Dave Cull, said basically get on your bike, weather is not a problem for cycling (all weather is good for cycling), as he had personally cycled to and from school in Invercargill.  (like Simon told me he did too, I think he even said he hid behind lamp posts to escape driving hail and sleet).

The boss of New Zealand's largest vehicle company wants Kiwis to pay more for their petrol.

Toyota New Zealand CEO Alistair Davis says our fuel prices are far too low - the fourth-lowest in the OECD in fact.

That's encouraging us not only to own bigger cars, but to drive them longer distances. And that means we're in reverse when it comes to meeting international greenhouse gas emission obligations.

"Our greenhouse gas emissions have actually gone up 23 per cent since 1990," he told a media briefing in Auckland last week.

Despite recent defections of two other oil majors, Royal Dutch Shell PLC has opted to stay in an influential lobbying group that has focused on shaping climate-change legislation, Chief Executive Officer Peter Voser said.

UK Industry Taskforce on Peak Oil and Energy Security, February 2010

The second report of the UK Industry Taskforce on Peak Oil and Energy Security (ITPOES) finds that oil shortages, insecurity of supply and price volatility will destabilise economic, political and social activity potentially by 2015. Peak Oil refers to the point where the highest practicable rate of global oil production has been achieved and from which future levels of production will either plateau, or begin to diminish. This means an end to the era of cheap oil.